A Poem for Newtown

A Poem for Newtown
By Delroy Nesta Williams and Anique Cuffy


Just got shot and killed
They told me I'm heading to heaven
But why did this happen to me?
I'm only seven
Barely seen much since kindergarten
I'm supposed to be in school
Learning Science and History
Now I'm the one who's history
I hope though that my death doesn't cause too much misery
But is instead a lesson
And the reason that the world changes direction
Why the need for guns?
One minute I'm laughing with my friends
The next my life has come to an end
I didn't even get a chance to say a prayer
Because the Lord wasn't welcomed here
Not within the walls of my school
But now everyone's praying to the Lord to comfort my family
Something's wrong with this picture, seriously!
How do they expect me to rest in peace?
When the last thing I heard was gun shots and screams
Held my best friends hand as our lives ended in misery
And the saddest thing is the reason for our death will always remain a mystery
Our souls went into evanescence
While our bodies just laid there lifeless
So many gun shots wounds to our heads and chests
Can we even have an open casket?
Our right to live was taken from us
All our dreams crushed until they turned to dust
And soon all memories of us will be like scrap metal in a landfill
Just waiting to rust
Yes, we’ll rest but we’ll never be at peace
We’ll sit with the Master and with angels up high
And look down and say, Lord why do they keep missing the signs?
It’s so clear to see, so easy to read
Why don’t they take heed?
It’s time to take a stand!
Fight for those who don’t have the chance
The little boys and girls just like me
Who are prey to the situations just like these,
Who are just happy to go through life every day,
Not worried about the guns while they play.
Childhood should be a period free from strife
Not afraid or clinging on for dear life
I pray for my family and all the other families
That they, while on earth, will find peace
And they do justice to our memory
Please, just take away all the havoc and mischief
Let God sit in you all hearts
And stop asking why?
What happened to us was just a reminder
That this world is sick, in need of a cure
And God didn’t make it our home forever
And one day this, yes this will all be over
With hearts that a pure
He’ll take us to our true home over yonder
But for now, stop sit and wonder
And start act to bring us justice
The guns, the violence – we’ve got to stop this
We can’t have another Newtown
We can’t have another shootout
We got to change our route
And as a people just accept the truth
That guns in the hand of any and everybody
Is a recipe to kill anybody
Even the little children, the innocent boys and girls
We’re killing off the future of this world…

Just smile

Just smile
By Delroy Nesta Williams 

I want a smile
But not just any smile, 
I want a smile so wide that I can see all your pearly whites. 
A smile so bright that not even the sun can outshine it, kind of smile.
I want the it’s so great to see you; it’s been way too long kind of smile, 
The smile that makes you feel oh so warm inside… 
That smile, oh that smile that can put hope in a terminally ill patient’s life… 
The smile that only a mother can give to her child kind of smile. 
I want the Sunday morning, God has abundantly blessed me smile. 
The it’s been a rough day but everything will be okay smile.
The thank you it’s Christmas dinner time type of smile.
The thank you I passed my exams with an A, 
So I don’t have to retake this class kind of smile.
The smile that says I can’t believe that just happened to me kind of smile.
The he kissed me unexpectedly kind of smile,
The one that sends tingles up my spine, kind of smile. 
I want a smile that says, it’s so good to see you, 
So now you go on and smile at the rest of the world 
So they can fall in love with your smile too kind of smile… 
Honestly, I just want the world to smile. 

I LOVE YOU

I LOVE YOU
by Delroy Nesta Williams


I love you, like every morning
Because it brings a sunshine, 
That reminds me of your smile.
Even when there’s rain
Still, I will love you
Because it drowns out a world of pain.
Yes, I love you, like the blades of grass
Freshly cut but still kissed by the dew
Because it reminds me when I was hurt 
But still comforted by you.
I love you, like every river
That flows into the deep blue ocean.
And, even when that river overflows
The ocean still contains the fury
So I will love you, 
That's just how it will always be.
I love you, like the big oak tree
Because it grew from a small acorn seed
To stand among the forest, so majestically. 
I love you, just like a rose
Because it’s beauty is never questioned:
So to my feelings for you… 
I love you, like the birds and the bees
Because there's always a flower 
That provides what they need.
I love you, like the sands of the beach
Though just grains, countless in number. 
I love you, like the horizon
Even if within sight, always out of reach.
I love you, like the big blue sky
Always over us as the days go by
I love you, like I've never loved anybody else
And I will never love another.
I love you, beyond time's measure
And even if you doubt me, 
I will still love you, like no other... 
I love you, as long as the ants 
Keep marching on one behind the other
Because wherever you go, there I will follow
I love you, like forever 
Because I love you today, like there's no tomorrow… 

Out of sight but not out of mind...

Out of sight but not out of mind!
By Delroy Nesta Williams

Feeling like a poor man
Running out of time
Living but not really alive
So much going on all around me
But no one to share it with
Can't see my reflection in your eyes
Or be the reason for your smile
Even your harsh words would be music to my ears
But the silence only adds to my fears
And compound the hurt and pain
That I will live out my life all alone
An incomplete feeling haunts me
My nightmare has become a reality
Wish I could go back to yesterday
And say all the things that I needed to say
Things I was to shy to utter
Things that pride made me swallow
I'm tired of the regret
Fed up of the faux quiet (calmness)
When I'm raging like a storm inside
My feelings I can no longer hide
I keep crying myself to sleep at nights
At the thought that I've lost your love
Conflict lives within my soul
An emotion I can no longer control
This numbness was simply pretense
Deep inside I'm raging like a boiling pot
I need to put an end to this, I need the hurt to stop
It's worst during the dead of night
When I've only got my thoughts and feelings
Then everything comes back to me:
How I ran away from love
How I was afraid to take the jump
And now I'm screaming, crying out
But I've got no one to blame
I've got only the scars and shame
Can't go back in time
Can't add reason to the rhyme
So I will just wallow in my sadness
And hope that with tomorrow comes a newness
But that's just wishful thinking
Cause you're gonna be absent from my reality
And so my sorrow continues
Because it's too late, too late
I've already sealed my fate
You are no longer mine
Because just like a poor man
I've ran out of time.

short short stories

Until recently I had never written one but I am beginning to like them.. short stories so short they are only one paragraph "long" but so well crafted that the can describe a lifetime of events... Here are two (2) of them that I did just last night... Truth is, I was kind of bored and didn't have anything better to do with my time.

The first short story I adopted, edited and remixed from a Facebook post of one of my friends (Michelle Walker, not her real name, lol). She took the quote from a book called the History of Love by Nicole Krauss. 

The second, I wrote to describe a photo that my cousin sent me... She has a photography page on Facebook (JPix) and she usually asks me to write short poems about certain photos. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do:


1. True story: once upon a time there was a boy and he was in love with a girl whose laughter was a question he wanted to answer!!! Whose smile was a rainbow and he chased it to find the pot of gold!!! Whose eyes held a treasure of secrets that he wanted to open!!! Whose arms were so warm that he only wanted to spend the rest of his life in them!!! And they spent forever together. The End.
2. Once upon a time there was a guy who loved a girl but he was too afraid to show her, so instead he hid it. So his love became a cross to carry, an overwhelming burden to bear. Eventually, all he was left with was thoughts of what this love could have been. He stood on the shore with tears in his eyes - watching, wishing - as the object of his affection left the dock in search of her love… The end. 

story no. 2 is inspired by this photo

Check out my other poems for her pics here:

The Hunger Poem
Sixteen (16)

Farrakhan in Dominica

Farrakhan at the Arawak

It's not everyday that a world leader/icon visits the shores of my Caribbean island, Dominica. In fact, besides some "unknown" members the royal family visiting a few times during the Independence Celebrations, Dominica doesn't receive much in terms of icons. I remember hearing of Oprah (doesn't coming much bigger than her), Wesley Snipes, Tom Cruise and a few others visiting the island as a little boy but I can't remember anything about their visit and i'm sure I didn't have a chance to meet them, unless of course I am suffering from severe memory loss... and i'm not.

So when I heard that Louis Farrakhan was in Dominica for a weekend (I heard him on the radio the Saturday when he was already on the island) I dropped all my plans for the Sunday night and went to the Arawak House of Culture to have a glimpse of the leader of the Nation of Islam. He spoke for just under two (2) hours and had me engrossed in his performance. I say performance because his engagement of the crowd seemed akin to that of a seasoned entertainer. I marveled at the way he went about giving his speech, how he got the small but appreciative crowd to buy in and even be part and parcel of his presentation. 

There's a certain aura to him and although I didn't agree with some parts of his message, I must agree that in terms of delivery, he is second to one... Obama... Well that's just based on the small sample of speakers that I have been exposed to, please don't hold this against me. 

I took a few notes of what I thought were pertinent points/quotes that he made (not verbatim):

1. if a man wont treat you right then what makes you think that he would teach you right - in speaking about white people providing religion to black slaves as a means of "saving" them.
2. "how did hair get a moral quality" in speaking about good/bad hair and how we have been brainwashed to accept everything "white" as good.
3. "you can't exercise knowledge in your sleep" - a call for black people (men) to wake up and take their place as leaders in the family and society
4. "the greatest thing that you can do is to work for that which is greater than (outlives) you" - my favourite quote. 

Farrakhan also went on to speak to students of the Dominica State College and even denouncing abortion, but that's a different story... check it out here on Dominica News Online

or check an article about his view of partisan politics on Dominica Vibes

Nesta 

International Volunteers Day

I'm highlighted in United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Youth-IN Volunteers information sheet that highlights volunteerism for International Volunteers Day 2012.

Check it out below:

UNDP celebrates International Volunteers Day 2012

Check out our Caribbean Youth Think Tank Website here
Check out the story in the Barbados Advocate as well

The Evening News

It's still very raw but since I haven't posted in here in a while, I thought I would still go ahead and share it:


I’m Delroy Nesta Williams
And I’m your presenter:

This evening in the news
We’ve got leaders so bold (that)
They’ve sold their souls for gold
Forgetting those they serve,
Just fattening up their banks accounts
Skyrocketing to ridiculous amounts.
And it’s all from the public’s purse
And that’s not even the worst;
We’ve got two-faced people
Who got me needing bi-focals.
Married men who make a mockery of matrimony
And women who just seek out the alimony
Priest who touch little boys
And the churches prepared to cover up their ploys
Not to mention those who sing for their supper
The apologists and fact benders
And so words get twisted
Intentions misinterpreted
And soon everything good will be a distant memory
We’ve got boys who pretend to be thugs
Because that’s what they see in the media
Shout out Tupac and Adi cuz that’s all they hear
Claiming they’ve found themselves
But they’re just paving their way to hell
And the girls who follow them
Clinging to the hype
Like a bra that’s just too tight
And it’s all a part of the scheme
To keep us trapped in the “skin” were in
Second class in our minds
This is just a sign of the times
And suddenly they only live once
Behaving like a sow’s runt
Cast aside to eat sloppy seconds
But we’ve got the people who know better
But sit silent, afraid to disturb the status quo
Because it all works out best if those who don’t know
Stay in their ignorance.
And they wallow in pretence
That it will all work out in the end
But that’s just the hypocrisy
Of a system that wasn’t meant to help the needy
Clothe the naked or heal the sick
Just meant to seek out profit
And still in the news
We’ve got bigots who lead the people off track
Claiming to have a master plan
Oh, what the fuck is wrong with this land?
That we’ve swapped leadership qualities for popularity
And vote based on who looks pretty
Or pleasing to the eyes
A badge of honour or a cloak to disguise?
When we would trade our soul for a scholarship
And return more dunce than when we first left
The news could go on and on
But this is just a ten minute segment
So you will have to return in the morning
And hope that with the sun’s dawning
Comes answers to our questions
And relief from our plight
Everything exposed in tomorrow’s light
But prepare to be disappointed
Because it’s a tangle web we’ve weaved.