Written piece
I Offer You A Thread
Akleema Ali
Trinidad and Tobago
About this piece
This poem is about an offering of threads. Threads that allow you to experience the beauty and richness of Trinidad and Tobago.
I Offer You A Thread
AKLEEMA ALI
I offer you a thread
Drawn from the blue Caribbean waters
Universal threads, ancestral threads
Divine lines connecting us all
A daughter sets out with coloured threads
I offer you a red thread from Trinidad and Tobago
where memory is deeper than the sea
and the ocean hums stories, truths and tales
Holding precious life, dissolving all hurt and sorrow
Creating harmony, joy and laughter
I offer you a brown thread
A magical land of architecture
The Magnificent Seven in Port of Spain
Colonial grandeur and historic guardians
Silent witnesses of time
I offer you a blue thread
Spun from musical notes
Where soca spins spirit lifting rhythms
And tassa rolls are fiery and hypnotic
The atmosphere of intoxication and euphoria
I offer you a gold thread
Birthed from fire and smoke
Where tastebuds are soothed with communal feasts
Choices of stews, curries and chinese
Reflecting the island’s heartbeat
I offer you a green thread
Leading you to beaches, sanctuaries and trees
Forests, swamps and rivers
Carved by nature and time
Calling each soul to retreat
I offer you a white thread
Frequencies of a prayer
Shaped by different religions
Echoed from quiet spaces of devotion
Each with its own song of Peace
I offer you a purple thread
Based on the foundation of faith
Offering kindness, hope and love
A warmth from the people
An island truly blessed from above