By Mel Cooke, Freelance WriterWESTERN BUREAU:
AS POETRY continues to make headway on the cultural scene, Sister Melva made sure the spoken word was represented at 'Party Time' on Saturday night.
It was no mean achievement, seeing that not only was she a poet among dancehall greats such as Sugar Minott, General Trees, Josey Wales and Brigadier Jerry, but she was also the only female on the stage at the Mas Camp, New Kingston.
And she did not make the spoken word heard just in the 'earlies' when no one was around, but stepped up during the high time of the dance, when the rhythm to Marley's War was on the turntable and 'Pickney Demus' had just finished chanting that "over and over and over again/yu know Demus no mix up wid men..."
PULSATING BASSLINE
Sister Melva chose the poem It Hard to work with on the rhythm, fitting the poem neatly on to the pulsating bassline, saying:
I poor an' illiterate
An' I no have no money fi pay no rent...
The poem turned out to be a statement about land matters, in which someone termed a 'squatter' stakes a claim to the land they are on, saying:
Mi naa lef of a dis lan' whe mi buil' me one room pon...
If you coulda tax de air me breath, me woulda mus' dead!
The deejays listened to her, as did the audience, Tree's headgear bouncing up and down as he jigged to the beat. They did not rush her for the microphone, but waited until she had said her piece.
The spoken word was not quite over, as Gilly Priest recited a philosophical piece about Life, saying:
Life is an opportunity, use it...
Life is sunshine, we all have to enjoy it here...
Sugar Minott must have enjoyed what he heard as he said that "when yu come a Leroy Sibbles ting yu get everyting."
"Hol' on sister, don't go nowhere," Sugar Minott told Sister Melva as the focus turned back to singing and deejaying.
