Halcyon Days Poem by Robert Dummett

January, soft as surf open doors
To a New Year. Sun, showers shine
And rain afar off is stored in celestial vaults.
Road, thrown on the hill braces like teeth
Craggy edges to Maracas Bay engulfed
By canopy breathing ozone freely
With taxis ferrying tourists
To heavenly sights,

Sights I bagged when I left taking
With me, comfort walks around the Savannah
And images of Port-of-Spain that held
Beauty in the eyes
Encrypted to preserve and protect
From time's evolutionary shift.

Stepping into my time machine
I'm transported to a cache store
With changeless scenes from my school days.
January jump start and is first
To point to a new class
New teachers, new rules while the mint breezes
Blow cool and Carnival claims the air
While music in steel steals the ear.

I seldom visit St. James now
Where historic buildings suffering from
Bulldozer virus battle for survival
And heritage assets miss grades
For conservation. It's a far cry
From yesterday when I could trek backstreets
In St. Clair, rim the Savannah and slip
Down to port to watch boats churn
The water's edge and hear chains rattle
Like 'lagahoo' at the mooring.

For better or worse I cut my teeth
On that town and the layout of its
Maxillary and mandibular
Is molded in my mind.
That is the mouth I do not want shut.