In the Shade of the Fire

This is a synopsis of the socio-political, cultural, and spiritual aspects of Jamaican life. It gives a snapshot of my childhood, family dynamics, and togetherness with vivid imagery and a colloquial feeling of post-colonial Jamaica. It is a colorful world of tropical sea, sun and beaches. Hospitality is entwined in the poetic narrative of style, energy, spirit, language, and culture of the island.

My childhood memories with my Mama still linger;

Trailing sunbeams on a crowded beach, Chasing cloud banks on a mirrored sea, as memories skip and swell on the winds, I remember Mama baking special occasion cakes and other things. I waited impatiently to lick the bowl and ladle full of batter, getting batter in my hair, smelling of eggs and butter, vanilla and sweet brown sugar. As I watched the swelling batter baking eagerly for my pleasure, I wondered if I would ever be like my Mama, my sweet, genteel mother.

 Recollection of the times spent in nature with wildflowers, fruits and chickens running in the yard, and growing up with hospitable folks eking out a living from the land and sea around, still sustains me. We spent time watching the golden orb telling time as it traveled across the sky all day, to paint the sunset in jubilant tones that made the sleepy horizon rejoice at the end of day. How beautiful a moment in time spent with Mama?
What blessings were bestowed upon my childhood senses to romp in fields of nature! Wildflowers whispered at my feet. Chief among them was the Spanish needle and a carpet of green grass punctuated by the yellow daisy- like plant that ran between. I scrutinized each as soldier-crabs go scurrying off in the warm sand.

Demeaning poverty still weighed heavily, even though slavery was abolished over three hundred years. The Maroons had fought violently to gain their freedom. Plantations of sugarcane that sustained British wealth and needed the slave-labor to keep them producing are no longer in operation. These days, the grand plantation mansions are now museums. They showcase their artifacts and wealth, expertly curated with a collection of Jamaican, English and European antique pieces and reproductions. However, harsh barriers to progress still persist even with reforms.

Home, no matter how poor, carries the sense of security. Home is where the Heart is, and there is no place like home. The metaphor home is where we share the collective moral traumas of slavery through different eyes and stories that make up the rich tapestry of our island. The yard and home still call to us even when we travel far. A pair of yellow butterflies court each other in the warm morning air, oblivious of me. The echoing echoes of a dream shouting, hear us! See us! Remains through the decades. Time and things roll on ponderously, with little social change even as our awareness expands.