De Poem for prosperity
by Glenda Joseph-Dennis, Brenda Wong and Glendon Nam
What a ting sah! Dis ya club name jamdamma
Start wid some people running round di dam at Mona
Every day dem a run like a group a mad smaddy
From morning til nite dem a wake everybaddy
Yu see de great Allan and Debbie Gyarbutt
Dem did love fi run so much dem say, why not
Form a likkle club fi addicts like a we
Sen out di word and den mek we see
It was Alan and Wilfred and Steve and Sammy
And Brenda and Veronica and de same one Debbie
Today we ave names like Stefan Szepesi
And Debbie and Debbie and Debbie and Debbie
We ave black, we ave white, we ave brown we ave yellow
We ave Indian, Rasta, Aryan, Mulatto
But we better not tink bout relaxing wid ease
Or soon dis too could be bought out by de Trinis
Not to worry!
We ave docta, lawya, economists, banka
Wholesaler, retailer and real estate broker
We ave beauty queen, prince charming, jester, everyting
We even ave Richard, de mighty burger king
Frano an ‘im crew put we pon de worl map
Tall wid im structure and im big Rasta cap
“ Good morning” im say, “yes please”, “yes king”
And a Negril dem gawn set reggae marathon Bling
When wi a run, we a laugh an’ wi chit an wi chat
Peter young know se nobody cyan beat im at dat
Dis Jamdamma club jus a spread, a get hat
‘ Cause we legalize Jam crasher and harbour gym rat.
Mi say
We ave runners all weight, all shape, all size
Rearing to go wise and unwise
Big foot, small foot, very happy feet
Some so maga yuh ave fi call dem élite
Some a run every race inna Jamaica
Dem soon ave problems wid dis ya mayor
Makka juk some so hard dey haffi run go a foreign
Clear to hell a Venice some a dem follow Karen
Yes sah
New York, Chicago, Miami, Boston
Dat not enough dey wanted to go London
Likkle did dey know dat losing dat lottery
Save dem from homeland security battery
Remember saucy Gina always did a swear
Sey no marathon she would a never go near
Likkle by likkle she get so drawn in
Now yuh cyan separate she and har gyarmin
But see ya
De one Phillip now a call de whole a we mad
And a him said one use to luv it real bad
Yuh arrange to start at 4.00 under de tree
Wen yuh reach yuh hear Phillip start quarter to three
Now de ladies dem sport de best hamstring and quads
Some show dem off every Thursday at quad’s
Graceful and charming yuh cyar call dem rogue
Glenda she come to run like she step out a vogue
Now hear dis
When we run we doh care bout nutten at all
We will drink, we will sweat, we will answer di call
So if yuh buck up one mad smaddy stooping to pee
Doh be surprise, could be di great Yolie!
From de serious time-keeping sub 3 athlete
To de regular runner who jus a try d’weet
At de end of a run everybaddy need a fix
Wedder sub 3, sub 4, sub 5 or sub 6
De one Judy say run fi life, run fi fun
And so every satday we run til i bun
But de true true reason real hard fi beat
Because wha?
We done know say we really running to eat
One ting is for sure we love one annadda
Nobody cyan stop we from hol' up each adda
Cause when we go home to significant adda
Sometimes deh look pon we and jus cyah badda
So wah fi do?
BE A JAMDAMMER …………… LOVE A JAMDAMMER
REMAIN A JAMDAMMER……… LONG LIVE JAMDAMMERS!
Note: Opinions expressed on this website or links to associated websites do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the members or sponsors of the Jamdammers Running Club.
