Thursday, July 21, 2016

256


[image courtesy 'the imaginary garden']

BATTY MAMSELLE
I come from dasheen planted in the backyard,
Callaloo bush cleaned on Saturday
To cook Callaloo on Sunday,
A few sugar cane stalks
Like thin jointed ladders, shooting up arrows
To catch the sunlight, to make life sweeter

I come from chennet tree and mango tree,
Which girls were forbidden to climb, back then;
Lest they make the fruit sour

And the clothes line,
Sometimes caught up in the tree branches,
If the tree was not trimmed
And the batty mamselle would
Come to rest on the clothes line,
With sunlight glinting transparent wings
Before they fly,
Where to? who knows?
© gillena cox 2016


If you enjoyed 'Batty Mamselle' you may also like 'Sunday Callaloo'


Glossary

#Callaloo bush - leaves of the dasheen
#batty mamselle - the name Trini folks call the dragonfly; also used to describe a sassy woman

#arrows - the Sugarcane inflorescence
#back then - Old folks said if girls climbed trees the fruits became sour

Written for Hannah's prompt
Transforming with Nature's Wonders
Imaginary Garden With Real Toads

AND Sanaa's Prompt Nights

On Popular Demand – The Hidden Realm – [7]



Don't leave before listening to Trinidadian Calypsonian Lord Kitchener(1922 – 2000) Batty Mamselle

46 comments:

  1. Hey, Gillena ~~ I am learning of new wonders of Mother Nature today. We do have the Dragonflies here, they are sooo petty. I don't know about the rest although we are 'near tropical' her by the Gulf Coast.
    Temperature today 99 and Humidity 89 forcasted.
    ..

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  2. Glad you dropped in Jim

    Much love...

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  3. Love the notes you added and the tone of your poem...this reads with such vibrancy and flavor...thank you for adding your voice to the challenge, Gillena!!

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  4. Thanks for dropping in to read mine Hannah

    Much love...

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  5. One of my favourites of yours, Gillena, so ripe with imagery and flavor. A startling fact that girls were not to climb the trees for fear of souring the fruit. Sigh. I hope girls sit in trees today. Smiles.

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  6. Thank you for your appreciation Sherry

    Much love...

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  7. This is so wonderful, those Caribbean words, and those memories... the fruit going sour if you climbed ... one of my favorite of yours.

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  8. Björn thank you for your appreciation

    Much love.
    .

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  9. Love that you write from both your senses and cultural experiences -- so wonderful to learn something new from a poem. Including the music is a bit of inspiration and I'm so happy you did -- listening now as I type and makes me want to jig around the room! Great response. Thanks for sharing.

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  10. Thanks for your appreciation Stacie

    Much love...

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  11. I LOVE this poem.

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  12. I love how you pulled your native language and folklore into this! This is wonderful!!

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    1. Thank you for your appreciation Ginny

      much love...

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  13. I love how you wove this pretty creature into your home background.

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  14. Ah! I love this. The phrasing is really lively and that bit about the girls not allowed to climb tress lest the fruits grow sour... the regional believes and perceptions, though odd, make us nostalgic of a certain innocent time. :-)
    -HA

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    1. Thank you for your appreciation Anmol

      much love...

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  15. So interesting, the old superstitions, that girls would turn fruit sour. Your dragonfly is a beautiful image in this poem.

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    1. Thank you for your appreciation Kerry

      Much love...

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  16. Mango tree girls, unite! Love the rhythm of this piece, and the imagery...

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    1. 🙌🌻🙌
      Thanks for dropping by Magaly

      Much love...

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  17. Whistles!! Oh my freaking Lord :D this is so intriguing Gillena :D I felt like I was transported into the enticing realm which you have created with your words. Beautifully executed. Thank you so much for participating at Prompt Nights and for your constant love and support :D :D

    Lots of love,
    Sanaa

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  18. I like the play on words between an adventurous woman and a dragonfly.

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  19. Happy you dropped in Rommy
    Much love....

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  20. Love the notes and the travels of your dragonfly

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  21. What a glorious poem this is recalling a precious past sadly disappearing. I have to agree with Sherry this is one of your best.

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  22. Thanks for your appreciation Robin

    Much love...

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  23. What a wonderful scene you've painted. I can see the dragon-fly flitting from place to place,,and hear music in the distance,,,

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    1. Thanks for your appreciation Linda

      Much love...

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  24. Hi Gillena! Hope you're having a wonderful weekend. I love those exotic, rhythmic and melodious Trinidadian words - I can hear them as I read them! They reminds me of when I lived in South London and used to spend Saturdays at Electric Avenue and Brixton Market!

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  25. Hi Kim I visited Brixton market while on a vacation in London in the 1990s.

    Thanks for dropping in to read mine

    Much love...

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  26. I absolutely adore the BATTY MAMSELLE...what a great name and all the language and culture woven in this made it tropical and mysterious....well done!

    Donna@LivingFromHappiness

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  27. Thanks for your appreciation Donna

    Much love...

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  28. Loved the close.
    who knows?
    only time.

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  29. Thanks for your appreciation Gazal

    Much love...

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  30. This lovely Gillena - you always seem to put me in the sunshine, with a smile on my face. The sense of joy in life that you so consistently conjure always soaks through to me... Thank you as always for sharing another slice of your soul.

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  31. I loved hearing you read this today! I'm going to have to remember "batty mamselle"--like crazy woman? There's such a sense of place in this--and I love the ending. 💙

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  32. 💚thanks for your appreciation Merril

    Much💚love

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  33. Loved the audio. The accent added to the lilt.

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