Skip to content

Jane Ulysses Grell

Storyteller, Writer, Teacher & Poet

Menu
  • About Me
  • How I Became a Storyteller
  • My Brand of Storytelling
  • How I Work
  • Selection of My Poems
  • Photo Gallery
  • Publications
  • Testimonials
  • Contact Me
  • Privacy & Cookies
Menu

Selection of My Poems

Woman of Words

I am a woman of words
Ordinary words
Sometimes sad
Never bad
No rude words

I am a woman of words
Fine words
Compassionate
Never empty words
I seldom have precise words
Find it quite hard to be concise
I am no Oxford Dictionary

Yet, I am a woman of words
Old hat words
Like, Tom drunk, Tom no fool
Wise, me granny-used-to-say words
Chile, you’ll make a beautiful woman, you know, but later
Calm the fear inside, comforting words

I am a woman of words
Bold, direct and unafraid words
Down with the Tories, cha!
I am a woman of words
Bilingual
Kweyol and creole words
Mwem cay yon femme plein mots
Bel ti mots kweyol
Bon ti mots, ou tanne
Pas piece gwos mots, awah
Mwem femme cela ni mots pour charme’ ou
Pour touche’ cher ou, aie, aie, aie
Parle’ mwem di ca doux-doux mwen

I am a woman of words
Chosen words
Sometimes no words at all

I don’t need words to tell you what I think of you
One smile, one sweet eye
Can say it all
One chupps, one cut eye
That’s you summed up
So who needs words?
Still…perhaps just a few
After all, a woman of words
Still needs her small comforts

 

Soggy Things

Puddle and splash
Puddle and splash
Together they go like bangers and mash

Rain and sun
Rain and sun
Put them together for rainbow fun

Frost and ice
Frost and ice
Winter’s cold and not very nice

Sleet and snow
Sleet and snow
Inside houses
Lights all aglow

 

La Pluie Ka Tombé, Soleil Ka Claywé (Dominican Creole)

La pluie Ka tombé
Soleil Ka claywé
Diable Ka mayé
Deyer la porte chamme!

Rain falling,
Sun shining,

The devil courting his bride

Take care to shut the back room door,

Quick!
Get indoors and hide.

Silent and invisible,
He’ll watch your every move

And this my friend
I know for true.

When rain falling,
Sun shining,
And the devil strolling his wife,

You better just be out of sight

Or it’s You,

Your Soul,

Or your Life!

La pluie Ka tombé
Soleil Ka claywé
Diable Ka mayé
Deyer la porte chamme!

*Rain and Sun together in the Caribbean means the devil is about.

Hold On

Hold on to the company of people who uplift you
even if they’re not pure gold

Hold on to your laughter
even if you can’t hold back the tears

Hold on to your dreams
even if they seem old and faded

Hold on to the many tunes inside your head
even if they’re only half remembered

Hold on to what you know lives within you
even if you can’t always feel the pulse

Hold on to your own drum-beat
even if its rhythm is uneven

Hold on
even if it would be easy to let go

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

©2023 Jane Ulysses Grell | Built using WordPress and Responsive Blogily theme by Superb