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'Geriau Windrush Words': Reflections in Poetry and Writing
'Geriau' is Welsh for 'Words'.  

Welcome to this website which we have created to support better understanding about 'Windrush' and the stories of the many who made Wales their home away from home. 

Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far,

                                                       and we would love to include the poetry and writing of others.

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Dreaming of home:   'Retirement: Homeward Voyage'


A time now fi mi go back home,

Dis place too cold fi I;

De price fi dis so called prosperity

Is rather way too high!

 

All dese years mi toil an’ sweat

In sleet an’ snow an’ damp;

Mi whole body freeze de way it cold,

Dung to mi eyelash cramp.

 

Still, a dat I haffi do

Fi keep me an mi family afloat

An’ provide a better standard o’ living

An’ hender hungry from cut we throat.

 

We a celebrate seventy years now

Since de time we come here first

An’ a flood o’ inhospitality wash we

Like a wave wha’ jus’ burst.

 

No Blacks. No dogs. No Irish.

A so de rent sign dem sey— Any which part yuh come from

Yuh better try go back dey.

 

We bear it out, we don’t complain,

We tough and tek de chill; For we come fi try fi better weself

An’ fi work an’ help dem buil’.

 

But after all dese years, when me tink— Was it really worth de strife?

De time me a try build up fi dem land,

Me nuh shoulda stay home and try mek life?

 

Me nuh shoulda strive fi boost mi owna land

An’ mek fi wi jewel shine

Fo’ Jamaica will always be mi home

It will never not be mine.

 

But, no time to live in regret

What’s done is done and gawn;

De nex’ generation might mek a change

By de time dem come an’ born.

 

Yes, seventy years since we first set sail

Aboard the SS Windrush Empire An afta all dis time—seventy years!

We can’t believe say mi still da yah.

 

De bes’ ting now is fe de I to trod back home

To de sun I dearly miss

To enjoy in my retirement Jamaica and its bliss.

 

Joy Roxborough  2019 JCDC Award Winner

 

THE 'GERIAU WINDRUSH WORDS' PROJECT IS MANAGED BY LEARNING LINKS INTERNATIONAL
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NORTH WALES JAMAICA SOCIETY AND SENYACUM, JAMAICA

 

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