11 days of sxm: O Sweet Saint Martin

It’s Day 11 of 11 Days of SXM. With that being said, I want to wish everyone a Happy Saint Martin’s Day. Whether we are home or ah foreign, I want us to take this day to celebrate ourselves, our history and our culture. In honour of this great day, I want to share this poem/monologue that I wrote: 

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O Sweet Saint Martin by Kamilah Gumbs 

O sweet, 
Sweet Saint Martin Land
So beautiful in your glory 
So grand 
From the 37 beaches 
All for each mile 
Where the young, old give their speeches 
Professing their love, joy 
For this o sweet Saint Martin Land 
 
A land of division and unity 
French, Dutch, 
but the song say though talketh English much. 
From the rolling hills and bustling piers 
To the music of the string band
Playing under the magnificent Flamboyant.
Jam Bands filling the streets 
Stews, Soups, BBQ and Johnny cakes filling up we belly.
 
O sweet Saint Martin land
Land of which my ancestors bled 
Land of which my ancestors fled 
To the hills looking for freedom.
O sweet Saint Martin land 
Home of the one tete Lokay 
Yess the massa chop off her breast. 
 
O my sweet Saint Martin land
Where my people were dropped off at Galis Bay 
Cut the sugar in all the estates 
Working the salt ponds, from Grandcase Great Bay. 
 
But O, my sweet Saint Martin land
Home of the free 
With a Brim 
With a Shoot 
And one serious Ponum, Ponum, Ponum. 
 
Where we shout through the hills 
Abe a mancipation' 
But my O sweet Saint Martin land 
Still bounded by the colonizers hand. 
Tug and pull, cry and yell
Songs of pain
Songs of sadness 
Songs of resistance 
Songs of freedoms
 
As our people move through the land
Praying for our rights 
Our sweet Saint Martin land 
Comforts us at night 
No matter how far we go 
How long we go 
O sweet Saint Martin Land, 
Will always be home. 


Before we officially end the 11 Days of SXM, I would like to say thank you!
A major thank you and shout out to our Sxm Creatives: Double D, Fafiélla, Resma, Guilda, Jharna, Zahra, Neha, Bianca and Shanica and Lisa (Say Less Sis). Thank you for allowing me for using my small platform to show appreciation! To the rest of you creatives, be on the lookout because it isn’t over. 

Big thanks to my parents, who contributed greatly to the food section, especially with the Johnny Cakes! 

Major thanks so my friends in my WhatsApp contacts. I appreciate every repost and share that you’ve done in the past and over these last 10 days. 

A super-duper, duper thank you to two of my friends, Nian and Tori. If it wasn’t for your guys countless support, advice and recommendations, this would’ve not happened. Thank you so much once again!

And to all the followers and readers, whether old or new, Thank You! There wouldn’t be any IslandGalTing without you guys! 

Well, that’s the end of 11 DAYS OF SAINT MARTIN 2020, and I’m looking forward to see you for my next post!

With much love, 
IslandGalTing 

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