Duppy
A haunting narrative poem rooted in Jamaican folklore and the childhood imagination, where a mysterious encounter with a duppy leaves a young boy traumatised. Blending Caribbean cultural memory, supernatural terror and the lingering effects of fear, the poem explores how one frightening night can remain etched in the mind long after the ghost has disappeared.
His red eyes locked him.
Who is this old guy?
Sitting on the bench
In this park after night.
The young boy stares back.
Squinting.
But cannot see his face
For it’s covered by a hood.
No one is around.
Listen—not a sound.
Deadlock is broken:
‘Old man what’s going down?’
The old man levitates
As if no feet,
Opening up his mouth,
Flashing—
‘You ever seen such
Razor sharp teeth son?
Teeth like these
Longer than these?’
‘Duppy, duppy, duppy’,
Screams the boy & takes flight.
‘Duppy, duppy, duppy’,
In the dark after night.
The young boy flew home,
Gasping for breath.
Scared out his body
By the physical face of death.
He woke up sweating as the sun rose
& took heed.
& blamed seeing ghost
On drink & cali weed.
He tried to forward march
With his life.
But the young boy scarred,
His brain in strife.
At the fore of his mind,
A constant rewind—
Encounter in the park,
The moment—
‘You ever seen such
Razor sharp teeth son?
Teeth like these
Longer than these?’
‘Duppy, duppy, duppy’,
In the dark after night.
‘Duppy, duppy, duppy’,
Screams the boy & takes flight.
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