Granny Is

Granny is
fried dumplin’ an’ run-dung,
coconut drops an’ grater cake,
fresh ground coffee smell in the mornin’
when we wake.

Granny is
loadin’ up the donkey,
basket full on market day
with fresh snapper the fishermen bring back
from the bay.

Granny is
clothes washin’ in the river
scrubbin’ dirt out on the stone
haulin’ crayfish an’ eel from the water
on her own.

Granny is
stories in the moonlight
underneath the guangu tree
and a spider web of magic
all round we.

Granny say,
‘Only de best fe de gran’children,
it don’ matter what de price,
don’t want no one pointin’ finger.’

Granny nice.

Copyright: from Let Me Touch the Sky (Macmillan Children's Books, 2000), copyright © Valerie Bloom 2000, used by permission of the author

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Valerie Bloom was born in Jamaica, the oldest of nine children, and grew up in a small town surrounded by mountains.  She began writing ...

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