Nah Guh In

A song performed by Skeng in Brooklyn

Donauta Watson 

Morning broad back views flipped upside down hit different at day break. See, the night still young and sun ever a shine

Me know is 90tz even before me see Skeng a dap up Rowdy Rebel the speckle inna 90tz road asphalt shine too bright, concrete crack dem inna 90tz sidewalk too distinct

look like is ninety fifth this. See the man dem deh, outside, nah guh in. Dem a watch the way yuh walk, talk, a perform the thing

What give it way is the sparseness of the leaves on the trees

dem always look force ripe, no? No such thing as a tree line block in nah the 90tz yet

and still shade ever deh bout; yah suh hiding is only done in plain sight

Gweh, a really the unseen lives in the rows of red brick houses

3 windows pon top, 4 windows down below whole heap of front porch with colorful awnings that give it way, a set a combined houses weh a peculiar people call home

intertwined chords wrapped round in between spaces, driveways tun back yards, tun dancehalls dividing one dwelling from the next

Summer in the 90tz hot, floods of flashing blues and reds, smoke, food & merriment  bad mind music a beat the place,  feet a move in nah the good good shoes

some will see and think a party when is art and life tek center stage

Is it true seh business ever a gawhn?

Well if a suh, a something me a try, a something me wah see, if me nuh get this right, the young girls dem a guh think, a guh think, is only man and badness get yuh through and pass the 90tz, that is if yuh a try get through and pass the 90tz. Cause man and badness can only get yuh through and pass those things that require nuff force enuh. Everybody who know anything at all, know seh, for those of us who born lucky we nuh need nuh pass. All from a distance we know seh every ghetto youth is a star

Frazzled

Flashes of electricity from a wall socket leaves me frazzled, the land lady’s son comes to fix the wall unit. Leaning on the kitchen counter, we watch as he stabs at the outlet

mumbling loudly under his breath about what we're doing to his place, he attempts to make us feel guilty for the backed up rent, the unruly nature of the kids stomping over his aging mother’s head, this inconvenience of getting him up on a Saturday morning

But sir, your place is faulty, he pokes at the light socket as I yell, I was frazzled! I repeated this as I argued in my mother’s stead, the place nearly catch a fire and I was frazzled. My sister and best friend look from one to the other, you have to fix the place sir, the socket nearly electrocute me, you should have seen the sparks and the fire, it leave me, frazzled. The more I talk the more him twist and poke at the socket  looking over at me from his slowly sliding silver framed glasses that never seem to past the bridge of him nose

I was in the middle of a good book too when this all happened, a really important part too where the character was left — A jolt back to reality, look like it's soon time to move again.

When he leaves my sister says, “Donna, what is frazzled?” My friend jumps in, “And why yuh keep on ah say it?” This is serious! I say with eyes wide open. In unison, doubling over in laughter, they say “we know, you were frazzled!”

Nobody ever tek nothing serious yet, I mouth unintelligibly, walking away, stomach still in knots