Written piece
Lantern Light & Jasmine
Reah Alleyne
Barbados
About this piece
This poem is a reflection on and a tribute to the family matriarch. It captures the contrast between her imposing physical presence and her gentle reassuring warmth.She is the anchor of the family, and works to preserve their ancestral history and legacy through storytelling.
1.I could almost see her broad-shouldered imposing figure
Stowing her tray after a long day in the market,
Bringing some semblance of order to the kitchen.
Known to most as Gran Dee,
We knew her simply as Ma,
Often described by others as strapping and hale,
Never loud enough for her to hear the
Admiration disguised fear in their voices.
2.Elegantly elongated with, untiring arms and legs,
Her dark smooth skin glistened in clear opposition to
The arguments presented by the process of aging.
The palms of her hands held the only lines to be found,
Meandering between revealing callouses,
Their paths an intricate map,
Traced by small inquisitive fingers
Trying to discover the hidden history within.
3.Her slim waist gave way to wide swaying hips,
A challenge to embrace for one lacking in height.
Her voice, soft and mellow in tone,
Always reassuring, occasionally reprimanding,
The deepening of the same
Necessitating the wise determination
That the occasion had arisen
To be both unseen and unheard.
4.Emotion and sentiment were expressions
That seldom disturbed her marble-like features.
The rearrangement of which, only occurring
When regaling us with tales of mischief, normally involving
Our now seemingly respectable law-abiding relatives.
Or in the presence of her little ones,
For whom food and hugs were given in equal measure,
Often accompanied by pocket change and brown mints.
5.She was the encompassment of love and kindness
Dry wit and sarcastic brilliance, resilience and strength.
She stood as the silent sentinel of our bloodline.
Weaving together the golden threads of our legacy,
The quilted cotton characters of ancestral allusion,
Whose stories were told on quiet evenings by lantern light,
While the wind, heavy with hints of jasmine and bay leaf,
Carried wisps of gossamer slowly through the air.