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This poem is taken from PN Review 259, Volume 47 Number 5, May - June 2021.

Kinderszenen
Kinderszenen: Scenes from Childhood
Lorna Goodison
Christmas Market

24 December 2020

And if it could just be Christmas Eve again,
when I was small; and the evening air was all
redolent, with the pepper reek of clappers,
mingling with nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove,
scent of currants and raisins in rum for a year.

And me and my siblings and friends, dressed up
in our brand new Christmas dan-dan, all excited
to galang down town to visit Christmas market.
And stars would stream out from sticks, like lit-up
sceptres held aloft, and everyone had on a crown

of crepe paper, printed with some festive slogan
like: Mary’s Boy Child is born; O What a La La Pon
the Beebop! Just Kiss Me quick! As we make merry
in Christmas Market, where our finest craftsmen
...


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