Merline Adassa Bonner - My Grandmother
Whenever I'm afraid of change I think of You.
In Memoriam| Merline Bonner| 17th February 1929 – 25th October 2009
On the banks of the Pindars River, in humble Arthur's Seat
There lived a little light-skin girl I would like you all to meet,
She goes by the name of Merline, the daughter of Ole U,
And gentle Miss Estella, who many of you knew.
Her father he adored her, for he knew he had a gem
And she in turn, she worshiped him, the very best of men.
She grew in grace and beauty, she washed her brother’s clothes
Those lazy good for nothings, why she loved them, heaven only knows.
And then she met our father, Nathaniel was his name,
An outsider from Brown's Town but she loved him all the same,
They married and moved to Monday Hill, in early wedded bliss
But when she got in a mood he’d say ‘a wha do u missus?”
They called her 'Mother Pepper', she told you what was what,
And you’d better not upset her as her temper it was HOT.
She bore Lynette and Velma but soon had to say goodbye,
For England now was calling and there she had to fly.
In those days London was a terrible place, they didn’t like black faces
But gentle Merline, full of grace, soon put them in their places.
Six more children followed, in those years we’ll always cherish,
With uncles, cousins, friends and aunts, in old St Stephen’s Terrace.
And then one day a letter came, 'Ole U is going blind
You’d better come and see him, there might not be much time'.
And when she sat by the old man's side he said “Miss Merline is really you?”
'Yes is me pupa' his child replied, and they shed a tear, or two.
But it was Miss Estella who went first, so sudden, without warning,
She just took sick and then she died, one bright Jamaica morning.
Ole U he wasn’t far behind and soon he joined his wife,
By the old house on the hill in Guava Ground, together in death as in life.
And back in England nothing changed, she worked her fingers to the bone,
'Til one day she said 'right you lot, me and Bonner, we’re going home'
So she returned to her father’s land just like she said she would,
And we all knew, without a doubt, that she was gone for good.
There was one more death before her own, the passing of Mr B
But soon they will be reunited, beneath the star-apple tree.
On the banks of the Pindars River, in humble Arthur's Seat
There grew a child, our mother, whose like you'll never meet.
You showed us what it was to love, you never turned your back
You gave us everything you had and nothing did we lack.
You lived out your days under the Jamaican sun, your dreams of life fulfilled,
As we lay you now beneath the stars, in your beloved Crofts Hill.
You used to say 'angels can’t do better when man has done his best'
But mummy you were our angel, God keep you and God bless.
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