Your asphalt greets me

As it hugs my sole

And says “Long time no see”

Up goes my silver dollar coins to the ray of warmth hugged by 2 fingers and unsheathes the faces of 2 queens reflected on it, I reflect back with my teeth, this is the least I can do

Hardly taming the excitement in this routine is my formality

A patchwork of some sensorial Elysium, cross-generational constellation that’s a sight to behold and a beating drum, alive and well

As other frequenting bystanders, I fold for what’s to come

I could close my eyes and still find my way to you

A maze of colorful shacks strung and lined next to each other like rosary beads by a thread of nature’s most fragrant provisions

A sweet frankincense and myrrh that cleanses, uplifts my spirit for a while

All the same, I count from seller number 1 and beyond and give my thanks,

to which I create a home for them in my memory, their mysteries contemplated

Your appearance meant to be clustered, far from commonplace

Guided into a field of

Ribbons from different spices that maypoles a melody around me

Mutters of a medley of scents, an utter ascent into

Complexions of nutmeg, saffron, chestnut, and cocoa beans

On cue, is the breeze that carries the gentle sea on its back

Ever surrounding until it carries me

Passerbys with their heads up high astoundingly shouting out each other’s nicknames that no one knows the origin lies,

the kind that sticks, lingers like cinnamon, from childhood and with reverence I store in a safe pocket in the mind

The occasional drunk who stumbles, feet pounding the floor in, the dances he didn’t know he’s rehearsed for years from the day of his first drop, no one can outscore him

open flame of fiery retorts between older men with a Stag beer in hand

They talk a talk that is their own

What’s wild and free

What sought out ground to spring up and just be

There’s the locals’ verbal playing cards shaking the painted wood from the stands vending vegetation, while they trade jokes from the crates and buckets they sit upon

Their vibration competes with

the hard pulse of soca music from the now and before welcoming

Adoring sways of the hips like metronomes, signature 4 of 4, rocking from right to left

Hands in the air to catch blessings from Jah

“Oh goshhh”

Labor’s luster that shines specks of white on their foreheads, noses, and chests

sparkles cause a piece of the sun is tucked inside them too

And the rest is in the powders, preserves, rum, peppers, fruits

From people who’ve done this from a lifetime

Hums from the market which carries its own polyrhythm of this

Natural chaos that scares the beetles of the night away

that eats at the edges of interferring thought, all i want to do is be apart of whats in front of me

The satisfying crack of ripe coconuts by “lang” cutlasses

Growing a crowd from what grows from the grass isn’t easy

Rickety tables luring in the masses laden with

Eye-catching nature’s jewels of mango, sugar apple, guava, breadfruit, skinup, cassava,

tamarind, cane, soursop’s liquid essence soothes the drought confined in us

Sugar, once unjust, bitter with blood and salted tears

Fruit once sewed force ripe by envious shears

is now the sweetness that is ours to claim

It’s the sweetness in our grin

sweetness in our walks

sweetness in our tongue

sweetness in our heritage

sweetness in our culture

sweetness in our stories

sweetness of our nature

Cultivate what this land has cultivated within you

Command the enchantment of produce tossed around in the palm to hug the roadmap on our hand

I will always find my way to you

Medallion that glows just as bright, and

Thick like porridge, is my pride that I know you so well.

So well you’ve met members on both sides of the trees who bore me

EC Dollar coins weaved in pleats between my fingers, mirroring the baskets whose contents tease my hungry gaze

Liming along the colors and flavors, the culture, busy acres, perpetually shining, the core of “my home” and its best display