If I woz a tap-natch poet Like Chris Okigbo Derek Walcot Ar T.S.Eliot Ah woodah write a poem Soh dam deep Dat it bittah-sweet Like a precious Memory Whe mek yu weep Whe mek yu feel incomplete Like wen yu lovah leave An dow defeat yu kanseed Still yu beg an yu plead Till yu win a repreve An yu ready fi rack steady But di muzik done aready Still Inna di meantime Wid mi riddim Wid mi rime Wid mi ruff base line Wid mi own sense a time Goon poet haffi step in line Caw Bootahlazy mite a gat couple touzan But Mandela fi im Touzans a touzans a touzans a touzans If I woz a tap-natch poet Like Kamau Brathwaite Martin Carter Jayne Cortez ar Amiri Baraka Ah woodah write a poem Soh rude An rootsy An subversive Dat it mek di goon poet Tun white wid envy Like a candhumble/ voodoo/ kumina chant A ole time calypso ar a slave song Dat get ban But fram granny Rite Dung To Gran Pickney Each an evry wan Can recite dat-dey wan Still Inna di meantime Wid mi riddim Wid mi rime Wid mi ruff base line Wid mi own sense a time Goon poet haffi step in line Caw Bootahlazy mite a gat couple touzan But Mandela fi im Touzans a touzans a touzans a touzans If I woz a tap-natch poet Like Tchikaya U'tamsi Nicholas Guillen Ar Lorna Goodison An woodah write a poem Soh beautiful dat it simple Like a plain girl Wid good brains An nice ways Wid a sexy dispozishan An plenty compahshan Wid a sweet smile An a suttle style Still Mi naw goh bow an scrape An gwan like a ape Peddlin noh puerile parchment af etnicity Wid ongle a vaig fleetin hint af hawtenticity Like a black Lance Percival in reverse Ar even worse A babblin bafoon whe looze im tongue No sah Nat atall Mi gat mi riddim Mi gat mi rime Mi gat mi ruff base line Mi gat mi own sense a time Goon poet bettah step in line Caw Bootahlazy mite a gat couple touzan But Mandela fi im Touzans a touzans a touzans a touzans
