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    Sweet Island Breezes: Poems and Essays
    Sweet Island Breezes: Poems and Essays
    Sweet Island Breezes: Poems and Essays
    Ebook176 pages1 hour

    Sweet Island Breezes: Poems and Essays

    By Collis Sherman Bell

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    About this ebook

    Collis Sherman Bells Sweet Island Breezes presents a collection that spotlights her native homeland, The Bahamas. With her poetry, she hopes to entertain, enlighten, engage, and inspire readers and create a deeper appreciation for the beauty and richness of the islands. Bells poetry resonates with the challenge to recapture, cherish, or create our own island memories.

    Sweet Island Breezes includes poems and essays based upon and inspired by her life in the islands. Her verses explore her childhood, family, and friends, with a particular focus on depicting Bimini, the island of her birth. For example, her poem, Sunrise to Sunset, describes a typical day in Bimini in the 1970s. Other poems deal with her faith and offer hope and encouragement to everyone. Bells commitment to her community is evident in her poems about social issues like education and paying it forward.

    Sweet Island Breezes offers an inspiring collection of works conjuring lovely memories of her life in The Bahamas and also provides a glimpse into her present life and beliefs.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisheriUniverse
    Release dateJul 11, 2013
    ISBN9781475997880
    Sweet Island Breezes: Poems and Essays
    Author

    Collis Sherman Bell

    Collis Sherman Bell, an educator, poet, and author, was born in Bimini, Bahamas. She holds an MA degree from Prairie View A&M University in Texas. She currently lives in Weston, Florida, with her husband, Willie; they have two children. She is also the author of Pockets of My Heart.

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      Book preview

      Sweet Island Breezes - Collis Sherman Bell

      Copyright © 2013 Collis Sherman Bell.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

      iUniverse

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.iuniverse.com

      1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      ISBN: 978-1-4759-9787-3 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4759-9789-7 (hc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4759-9788-0 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2013912100

      iUniverse rev. date: 7/11/2013

      Table of Contents

      Preface

      Acknowledgements

      Naturally Speaking

      B.A.H.A.M.A.S.

      Creation of The Bahamas

      Archipelago of Natural Wonders

      Bimini is Magnetic

      The Beach at Dawn

      Bright Skies over Bimini

      Before the Storm

      The Hurricane

      Refreshing Rain

      Island Winter Wear

      Seaweeds

      Sea Shell Treasures

      Bird Watching

      Nature’s Irony

      Sea Gulls

      When Crabs Walk

      Watch It Mosquito!

      Ode to the Hibiscus

      Mango Watch

      Coconut Treat

      Royal Poinciana Tree Aflame

      Culturally Speaking

      Sweet Island Breezes

      Independence Comes

      Churches in Bimini

      Sunday Afternoon

      Island Funeral

      Sunrise to Sunset

      Meeting Place

      Pretty Ricky

      Tea Party

      Saturday Matinee Dance

      All in a School Day

      Sailing Home

      Beach Party

      Fishing Tournament

      Straw Market Encounter

      Fishman on Wheels

      Pucker Up!

      Relics of Bimini Past

      Our Wheelbarrow

      What I Like!

      Cool Compensation

      Can You Hear Me Now?

      Phone Wars

      Junkanoo Dancer

      Drumming Up Memories

      We Love Junkanoo!

      Stress Reliever

      Christmas Lights

      My Bahamian Family

      Back Then

      Dots in the Ocean

      Museum in a Trunk

      Food Critic

      Sink or Swim

      TV Joe

      Rainy Day Memories

      That’s Just Mammy!

      Coconut Lumps

      Fear Factor

      Mammy Cannot Win!

      Brothers!

      My Father’s Style

      When Did I Become My Mama?

      Empowering

      Guard Your Future

      Sista Girl Done Changed

      On a Wing and a Prayer

      Raisin’ Cain

      Sereni-Tea

      Paying It Forward

      PIF-WIAMAD

      Grateful

      Bad Habits

      Passion

      The Rooster Caper

      To My Bahamian Family

      with Love.

      Preface

      Sweet Island Breezes celebrates my Bahamian roots and shares memories of The Bahamas and Bimini, the island of my birth. The Bahamas celebrated its 40th Anniversary of Independence on July 10, 2013 and Sweet Island Breezes serves as a tribute. In the essay Independence Comes, an overview describes the independence celebration of 1973 from the point of view of a participant of a float and as an observer on Fort Charlotte, the British-colonial era fort, which was the site of the flag raising ceremony. The poem "Sweet Island Breezes" captures childhood memories of growing up in The Bahamas and regrets that those days are gone.

      Sweet Island Breezes entertains, enlightens and encourages. The poems and essays in Sweet Island Breezes are based on and inspired by memories of growing up in New Providence and Bimini. Sailing Home, details a vivid account of the journey from Nassau to Bimini. School children from the family islands travelled home to their parents by boat during school holidays. Junkanoo is a major cultural event in The Bahamas and the poem Junkanoo Dancer comically describes a young girl’s attempt to join a Junkanoo dance troupe.

      Optimistically, Sweet Island Breezes motivates others to write their own poetry or novel. The Beach at Dawn and Archipelago of Natural Wonders help others recapture and cherish their own island memories or seek out the Bahama Islands to create beautiful new memories.

      A lifetime of Sunday Mass and Sunday school has instilled a great appreciation for life and service to community. Belief in a higher power is an ongoing theme and present in several works: such as, Sereni-Tea, where the suggestion to spend time with God is emphasized, as well as in On a Wing and a Prayer where God is called upon to provide safe travel.

      Acknowledgements

      I thank my parents, Edison and Mildred Sherman of Alice Town, Bimini, Bahamas, for providing a home full of love and happiness and for being great resources for several of the entries in Sweet Island Breezes. A big family is a blessing; a crowded childhood home with four brothers, four sisters and a little cousin was the prime spot for many precious memories. I thank each of my siblings for their encouragement and for helping me recall memories for Sweet Island Breezes. I thank my brother Edney for his assistance with the image concept for the book cover. I thank my grandmother, Mrs. Brunetta Archer Sherman, who at 102 still influences my life. Growing up with her in Nassau was the base for many great memories also.

      Words cannot express my gratitude to Aunt Audrey Dean and Mrs. Beverly Warren, my sister in Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, for their suggestions and guidance with the contents of Sweet Island Breezes. As former educators, their input was very valuable.

      Sweet Island Breezes would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of my wonderful and patient husband, Willie Bell, III; my biggest cheerleader. I am grateful to my children, Candice and W.J. for their patience, talents and continuous support in the completion of Sweet Island Breezes.

      To God be the glory!

      40717.jpg

      Naturally Speaking

      B.A.H.A.M.A.S.

      Beautiful Bahamaland, breathtaking islands and cays

      Archipelago of 700 islands, sprinkled from Florida to Haiti

      History rich with African heritage and British colonial influences

      Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, Baptist and more; a God fearing nation

      Most popular tourist destination among Caribbean islands

      Atlantic Ocean’s shallow waters surround islands; Baja Mar means shallow sea

      Smiles, surf, sand and sun make The Bahamas great fun.

      Creation of The Bahamas

      God set the planets in the sky

      And charged the stars to give light,

      Continents and oceans He filled with life,

      Animals and trees all multiplied,

      Creation so beautiful

      The angels cried.

      God penned a note on a heavenly pad;

      He had a sweet sensation,

      With great enthusiasm He continued

      For He was not yet finished

      With creation.

      From a special place He took sand and rocks,

      And stirred them gently in a potion,

      An archipelago of tiny islands

      He sprinkled into the Atlantic Ocean.

      A nation, a tropical paradise,

      Golden sun, beautiful and bountiful sea,

      Miles of white sandy beaches,

      What God made was truly lovely.

      God saved the best for last,

      With this creation

      He was well pleased.

      The Bahamas, He said,

      Was more than nice.

      He declared it Paradise!

      Archipelago of Natural Wonders

      Sailing through the islands

      From the north to the south

      Travel writer Bill was amazed,

      He couldn’t shut his mouth.

      There was so much to do or see

      When he started

      His fact-finding expedition

      From Abaco’s Walker’s Cay.

      An archipelago,

      Of one hundred thousand square miles;

      Low lying islands, shallow seas

      And reefs made him smile.

      Azure waters, secluded sandy beaches,

      Each island with its own flavor,

      Bill reached for his camera

      As there were many sights to savor.

      He saw the longest underwater cave

      And cavern system known to man,

      Fascinated by them, he stayed so long

      In Grand Bahama, he lost his salon tan.

      In Bimini, the Gate Way to The Bahamas,

      Where big game fish are caught,

      He searched for the Fountain of Youth

      But it wasn’t where he thought.

      He sailed southeast

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