Jamaica Writes

by Robert Gabay (Writer) and Elva Clarke (photographer)

She HAD to leave.
His long-standing inability to rid himself of his emotional baggage stood between them like the unconquerable Annapurna.
Her pent up emotions threatened to overwhelm her and she felt she must either scream or run to salve her sanity.
The frustrating bitter-sweet bond had to be broken. She was going to make the decision. It was time.
She left.

It’s a wrap! Cue applause and coconut scented confetti. We will see you next edition. Thanks so much for taking the time to take in our photographs and our 62 words. Stay blessed! - JW

by Elva Clarke (Writer and Photographer)

Maybe she looked different from behind. Better. An image that came into focus at a distance as she walked away. Unable to be seen when she stood in front of them with heart in outstretched palm. Bruised from being pushed away and taken for granted. She was tired of being the one that got away. She just wanted to be the one.

The photographers are probably cringing but hey I took the shot. One more day for edition 2: 62 words and then we take a break. - JW

by Carla Moore (Writer) and Mario Guthrie (Photographer)

xaymaca
land of your naming
we say Jamaica
like you were never here
Jamaica 50
what of xaymaca?
in 50 years it was gone
I know not how I got here
indentured-servant-slave
but for staying
I apologise
you were a story
Taino
a thing a black child learned
Arawak
a part of Jamaica’s history
the part before the real part
I apologise.

Another 62 words is headed your way tomorrow as we wind down edition 2: 62 words of Jamaica Writes. - JW

by Nyika Noelle Smythe (Writer) and Christopher Fuller (Photographer)

Between two sheets
This bed the centre of our world
We whisper stories to each other
We tell lies we wish were truth
Skin to skin, heart to heart
We paint pictures of pretense
Infidelity to our souls
Today is our eternity
Tonight is all we have
And as the morning light cascades across our guilty faces
We know it is goodbye.

We say goodbye until tomorrow when our 62 word edition continues. - JW

Elva Clarke (Writer) and Sireita Mullings (Photographer)

Some are going say “No”.  As if I don’t know everything about no. No father to say “See your lunch money here.” No mother to say “See your dinner here.” No grandmother to say “Make sure you bathe before you sleep tonight.”  No doesn’t move me. I feel no in every single part of me.
 
Twenty-dollar coin? Thanks. I just glimpsed “Yes”

We’re winding down edition 2 this week. Meet us here for more tomorrow. - JW

Joneil Alcock (Writer and Photographer) (Photo edited using FotoFlexer)

When the paramedics came, he was already dead, lying in a pool of his own blood. Georgia had been preparing a late dinner. She was at the stove when Trevor entered the kitchen and gave her a back-handed slap. A loud argument erupted between the two. More hits followed the first. Somehow, Georgia grabbed the knife and stabbed him. She never grieved.

It’s not quite the end, we have another week or 2 of 62 words. Have a great weekend! Create something this weekend - write, draw, capture a moment on camera … but enjoy every moment of it. - JW

Nyika Noelle Smythe (Writer) and Diallo Dixon (Photographer)

In the hollowness of a shell,
You put your ear against it to hear it.
Open your mind to taste it.
It whispers softly and you reach out
To feel it
To make sure it’s real
No you didn’t imagine it
But you’re the only one who sees it
 Dancing against the landscape of your subconscious
Pulling you in, lighting your dreams.

One more post until the weekend. - JW

Carla Moore (Writer) and Mario Guthrie (Photographer)

fire signs
they burn
hold hands amid flames
watch their skin meld
smile at being joined
in all.ways
she hates you
which means
loves
retching up her feelings
nothing comes out
her feelings are your unborn child nurtured on her blood
come rub her naked belly
all.ways in
even with closed door
even when gone
she hates you so much
she smiles

Elva Clarke (Writer) and Mario Guthrie (Photographer)

She questioned the existence of this thing she called love. How it shifted and changed directions with time and how somewhere in the middle of it she couldn’t see it. Though structureless she clung to it and never wanted it to leave. She wondered why something so amorphous, upon departure, left her feeling that way - with some shape but no definition.

Jamaica Writes will be here tomorrow with more from our 62 word edition. - JW

Jonelle Peart (Writer, Photographer & Artist)

Seeing him place his cherry lips on her sun-kissed skin, riled me! Hot blood coursed through my veins; the heat of the adrenaline pulsed and prompted my trigger finger. I responded in time. The opportunity came and I took it. It was not premeditated. I did it on impulse. I took the shot. I wanted him only, but I got her too.

Art joins the pool of talent displayed here at Jamaica Writes. We welcome it! See you tomorrow for more from our talented team. - JW

Mario Guthrie (Writer and Photographer)

These eyes now see unusual clarity. Without blur the lines become sharp and lights bright. Through you life becomes unaltered. Without limitations. A cacophony of sounds embraces a distinct medley of smells in an uninhibited world without expectations. A jungle, hard and concrete, yet soft and without boundaries. New York you may be the new home for me.  Here I feel free.

Have a great weekend and to make it even greater please support this uber-talented artist as he endeavours to create his first album “Reggae Soul Vol. 1: M.E. On Love”. Find out how you can help at http://tinyurl.com/KickStartME. His project closes on December 13, 2011 so make your pledge now. - JW

Nyika Noelle Smythe (Writer) and Christopher Fuller (Photographer)

I am not afraid to love you
I’m afraid to dream
Dream bigger than these four walls that now surround us,
Walls that keep us safe and protected in the exploration of this feeling.
I am not afraid to love you,
I’m just afraid of seeing,
Who we really are,
What we could really be;
Then inevitably coming apart at the seams. - JW

See you tomorrow for more from the Jamaica Writes’ team.

Joneil Alcock (Writer) and Christopher Fuller (Photographer)

It happened again. The place was familiar. It was the same spot at the edge of the cliff. Ian looked thirty metres below and watched the incoming then receding tides. Water collided against the sheer rock face. He jumped and, as before, the breeze lifted him up and he took off flying. Yet again, he was soaring above all in his dreams. - JW

A great photo and 62 more words coming your way tomorrow.

Elva Clarke (Writer) and O’Neil Lawrence (Photographer)

Shame clung, immovable, even under the force of the water. She was hoping the hot water would wash away the stain. As she shook her head violently, she wished the left-to-right motion would trip the awful circuitry that had the event on a loop in her mind.  She wanted shame to leave but it clung, immovable, even with the passage of time. - JW

Tomorrow we have another 62 words for you. Meet us here.

Jonelle Peart (Writer) and Machel Higgins (Photographer)

That’s me on a swing, thinking I’m the shit. Hair conversing with the wind. Telling hydrogen and oxygen: she ain’t got shit; Clairol and Motions got dibs; Up to her neck in bills; not the fancy ones used to pay for things.  Chin length bob… let’s take a still. Come next week, I’ll be bald on that swing, still thinking I’m the… JW

Fill in the blank and meet us back her tomorrow for another in our 62 words series. - JW