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POEMS
Created: 28th August, 2015

I like to stay up

THEMES

Family Feelings

TYPE

Poem

POETIC DEVICES

Repetition Rhyme

YEAR GROUP

Years 3 and 4

I like to stay up
and listen
when big people talking
jumbie stories

I does feel
so tingly and excited
inside me

But when my mother say
“Girl, time for bed”

Then is when 
I does feel a dread

Then is when
I does jump into me bed

Then is when 
I does cover up
from me feet to me head

Then is when
I does wish I didn't listen
to no stupid jumbie story

Then is when I does wish I read
me book instead

From Under the Moon and Over the Sea

(“Jumbie” is a Guyanese word for “ghost”.)

Why not try...
  • watching Grace Nichols in the video below talking about where she got the inspiration for this poem.
  • having a go at telling a story you know to a friend.

VIDEOS

Grace Nichols - I Like to Stay Up

Video