Hard Time Bun Dung Tung Cham-ba-lay-lay Police a Cum

‘Aye!’

Cut some paw-peye stem

Bring some ole clart

An de bottle a kerosene

Bring de bamboo from under de house

Its excitement time

A small village fest

We call it chamba -lay -lay

A celebration at its best

Adults and yung'ns a bus paper bomb

Me uncle warming up de bambo

‘ba-dung’

To bus dung tong

Tonite fu shure, goin be clean traditional fun

Paw-peye stem drain

Clart tearin soun like fabric rain

Kerosene odour a linger

Match scratch

‘Muddo’

Wat pon fire…

Full de paw-peye stem wid oil

Dip de clart too

Stuff it in de stem to mek wick

Nite a dus een

Current garn

Picknie on de mudda hip

Chambalay in hard grip

Paint pan bangin

Starlite flickerin

In de far distance,

Hear de echoes of de bamboo

Are we marchin, dancin an prancin

Singin

Cham-ba-lay-lay police a cum

Cham-ba-lay-lay police a cum

Hard time bun dung tung

----------

Andrea Olivia Ottley was born and raised in the Federation of St.Kitts and Nevis. She is a mother of five children who enjoys motherhood as well as the kaleidoscope of life. She is a poet, a writer and a photographer who believes the world to be art in its natural and creative sense. She writes largely as a mean to comfort herself using native vernacular and vibrant descriptions to create her own voice and style in the world of Caribbean Literature.