The smell of Jamaica, dah vibes upon vibes,
whispering through Blue Mountain mist,
where coffee smoke, thick as prophecy,
climbs and curls in ancestral tongues.
It is the incense of emancipation,
the balm of weary feet on Doctor’s Cave sands.
Listen—rocksteady still hums beneath the skin of the island,
reggae beating like heart against rib,
drums telling stories older than empire.
“Out of Many, One People”—
a motto stitched in kente and calypso,
where ackee and saltfish simmer
beside the laughter of children,
their mouths red with sorrel, sweet and sharp.
Jah love walks barefoot
down Seven Miles of Negril,
waves clapping like tambourines
to the rhythm of the doctor bird,
its tailstream painting gospel in the air.
Here, the carnival is no costume only,
but the sacred right of joy,
a luxury of freedom seized from chains,
spilled into song, into dance, into flesh.
O Cuba, O Haiti, O Florida shores—
hear the island breathing,
a harbour of delights,
sun-drenched and unbroken.
Resorts bustle, yes,
but beneath them, the roots—
maroon drums, nyabinghi chants,
voices like Hughes’ rivers,
deep, dark, eternal.
For the smell of Jamaica is not tourist perfume,
but fire and frankincense,
rum and bob marley drink,
a pungent promise of peace and love,
the slow burn of ganja wisdom,
and the urgency of rights restored.
Beyond the bustle of resorts and guaranteed sunshine,
the island breathes deeper—
lush vegetation, roots older than empire,
branches bent but never broken.
Here, soil remembers maroon footsteps,
chants rising like smoke to the stars.
The smell of Jamaica is not tourist perfume.
It is ancestral incense,
ganja’s bitter-sweet prayer,
salt air singing through coral reefs,
children’s voices rising like hymns of dawn.
Every drumbeat, every laugh, every tear
is a psalm fi survival,
a poem fi peace.
Yes, Jamaica nah just a place,
she a spirit, she a living word.
She smell of resilience and rhythm,
she taste of rain and redemption.
I and I say—
one love,
one people,
one sound,
ever blessed, ever irie,
Jah guide di land of vibes upon vibes.
ablethoughts 