A Poem – Remembering the past
William Bubblicous Galloway
A you who a tung a burn down
Hey You yes you
I need a word with you
I know you proud of you homeland
But you remember town before the fire
What fire? The big fire
Back in the sixties
No not Osborne fire, after that
The one that burn a big portion of the town
Yes, there was a fire in Plymouth don’t just gaze
No not Massachusetts, Montserrat
The one that had George street ablaze
Don’t stand in disbelief that night tung nearly burn flat
Listen the fire burn out Hamsay grocery store
And blackened cans blessed my door
My oh my canned sardines and corned beef galore
From the Carty house down pass Lindy
Take out teacher Toody, smoke, fire massive catastrophe
“who smelled it dealt it” school all gone
Reggie Osborne sweet drinks factory burn down
Up jones alley smoke out down Hayden alley
As a young man everything seem bigger
But this fire left you in wonder
What would this island be by morning
If this fire keep on burning
Luckily a ship was in port and lend a hand
But tell you what from me there was not much grief
Because I was blessed with canned sardine and corned beef
Couldn’t go walking down the street that morning
Soot everywhere on the street like black snow
When authorities allow you to walk through tho
Smoke down to Jemotte and Hopras
Cross the street to Cassel rum shop
Hulda and Mannix alley, burn
Fire and smoke take over town
Nuff barefoot Looters had to cease and settle
Plundering, a few get slice from broken sweet drink bottle
Frozen chicken and pig mouth had to go
Quick sale light profit was the word
Man from fort ghaut nah eat roast red herring
Its canned ham and canned peas they eating
Lunch it’s sardines and canned corned beef they having
The cans were blackened, labels removed
Open one looking for peas and get mackerel
The price was right looters unite and share
The buildings were charred and mangled
It’s going to be trash anyway so agree
Morality recedes as necessity exceeds
One less hungry belly
Oh yes we versatile and resistant
So we bounce back as usual from anything
Construction, renovation, new direction, almost gentrification
Except wealthy just got richer
Demonstrate what is less clutter
Turned around the country on the go
that was long before the volcano
Oh no I’m not looney trust me man
At one time in life tung did burn down
