Daughter
from the very first moment you lay in my arms
I loved you with all my heart
and although at times it seems hard to believe
I love you, now as I did from the start
nothing can break the bond between us
my daughter you'll always be
so if you're ever in need of support of advice
you can always come to me
follow your dreams, do the best that you can
I know that you can achieve
everything that your heart desires
as long as you believe
Nicolette Gordon © March 1999
Father
thank you for always bring there for me
a tower of strength to lean on
a man I can depend on
thank you
you're so calm and collected
generous, proud and strong
thank you for always giving me
the sense that I belong
I have faith in the values instilled in me
with your warm and tender care
and I want you to know that the bond between us
is something I'll always hold dear
I would want no better role model
for my daughter or my son
to share many precious moments
and cherish every one
thank you for giving me guidance
for being there constantly
I'm so proud that you are my father
everything I'd want a son to be
(This poem was written under commission, I only wish I had a father I could have written this about)
Nicolette Gordon © February 1999
In Memory of Jermaine Bedward
On Wednesday 21st of May
Jermaine's young life was taken away
The Almighty decided he should not stay
Suffering on earth for one more day
It is not for you or I to say
That things should not have happened this way
We can only bow our hands and pray;
Sing in memorial and pay respects today
Bringing flowers in a beautiful array
We say farewell 'til we meet again some day
You are dearly missed
The above poem was written for my cousin Jermaine Bedward's funeral service. He died at the young age of 24 from an epileptic fit.
© Nicolette Gordon May 1997
Cry of a Single Mother
No one said it would be this hard
Or offered me an alternative card
To the fallacious route that which I chose
Eyes tinted by the ambiguous rose
No longer on the road to university
Oh hold I put my science degree…
A trade in for a screaming baby
It seems so long since I was last alone
Since I had some space to call my own
Six years, nine months, eleven arduous days
Sanity diminishing as my youth decays
Old friends I greet with envy
Through prematurely aging eyes
They have no responsibilities
No persistent pressing ties
Incessant questions
Disrupted sleep
My life is not my own to keep
To the bring of weary patience
I am brought time after time
As she plunders through possessions
Wasting every dime
Love alone prevents me
Committing a heinous crime
Why is it no one told me
This is how my life would be
A wealth of shattered ambitions
Middle aged at twenty-three
Why is it no one told me
This is how my life would be
So many words were left unsung
Though they dangled the bait
You are too young
Nicolette Gordon © 1997
Are You a Relaxer Junkie?
You do not know, you do not care
What you are putting in your hair
Heavy industrial cleaner, caustic soda
Cleans oven and buildings
Makes them like new
And you put it in your hair
Like it's right for you too
It cuts out your hair
But you don't care
You'll just trim it or plait it
To give it some length
And then
Start the destruction process again
You know what it's doing
But still you continue
And now you're abusing your children's hair too
It's not fair, it's not right and it's downright crazy
Processing your child's hair
It's bone idle and lazy
Take pride in our hair
Unique to us alone
With texture and body others try to clone
I am an Afrikan, I'm glad that I'm me
And I'm proud that I'm not
A Relaxer Junkie
It pains me that my daughter decided to take out her lovely locks which were so long and beautiful, but peer pressure is a powerful thing. Hopefully once she's had a chance to see what it does, she'll come back to natural! It's a shame that nearly all of the role models see fit to negate the beauty of our hair making it almost impossible for our young to love themselves as they are
© October 1997 Nicolette Gordon
Remember
Take a step back from who you are today.
Remember yourself as a young hopeful child,
When everything was refreshingly new,
When there were no pressing responsibilities for you.
Remember when everything had to be done ‘then’
Remember trying your best to please,
Not always managing to succeed,
Always making a mistake…
Not knowing there were many more to make.
Remember the things you wanted to do, but couldn’t,
The things you did then, or do now, but shouldn’t,
Remember incessantly being told no!
All of the places you weren’t allowed to go.
Remember when everything you wanted to be,
Everything you wanted to do,
Was the opposite of what your parents wanted for you.
Remember the times you did just as you pleased?
The times you lied with relish and ease?
You wanted to grow up too soon,
But everything was so unfair,
And no-one seemed to care,
Remember?
These are things all children go through,
Remember what it was like for you.
© August 1997 Nicolette Gordon
You Can Do better Than This
You can do better than this
You were not born to be the victim
Of a man's fist
You can do better than this
So you've borne his seed
He has no right to make you bleed
You can do better than this
You're saying to your daughter
It's ok to get slaughtered
You can do better than this
To your son you give the go ahead
To bus' another sister's head
You can do better than this
Fist against flesh
Now your face is distressed
don't you think it's time
to get out of this mess
You can do better than this
You've given him the best years of your life
You say that you love him, that you are his wife
But you can do better than this
You can do better than this
You can do better than this!
© Nicolette Gordon 1996
The Crying Game
she wept...
shunned
rejected
deselected
...it was ever thus
she felt the coldness
the lack of want
need
and
greed
...it was ever thus
she could not beseech
the out of reach
her warmth was not enough
and so
as 'twas ever thus
she wept...
Nicolette Gordon © May 2003
The Façade
My deepest darkest friend
I know no other such as you
whose inmost thoughts run through
Feeding and fuelling
And eating and beating
Away
You are alive
Winter…
A temporary reprieve
Clinging to
This
Shrouded cloak of pain
Smokescreen
Summer
Could come,
Should come
Again…
Time is aplenty for winter
When you are no longer
Anymore
For feeling
A winter for three score or more
Will drain and make
insane
As it dips
and it hits
and it chips
Into you
And all
Who strive to love you
Many have survived through winter
Survived to see summer again
And left behind
The blinding smokescreen
Shrouded cloak of pain
Nicolette Gordon © June 2003