Walpole Bay - a Poem by Godfrey Cyntje

I must go down to that bay again
The bay where most people has
Forgotten it’s name.
The bay where we used to laugh
And cry the bay where we would tell
Our loved ones goodbye.

The bay where we said welcome back
Home. The bay where many silent tear
Drops rolled

It was once the eye of this land from here
We would gaze at the Southern lands
From here young men dreamt dreams that
Made us wonder of the many lands to
Discover.

From this bay I first smell the salty air and
My loves for the sea was born right here
Many memories are buried here many
Memories are forgotten here

The old Waypole bay so rich in our culture
In its golden days. Many strong and brave
Men with a prayer, their life on the sea
Started right here

Come now my son now look under my sand
The dust of a thousand ship timber’s you will
Find that been lost in time. They were once
The pride of this land. Their relics are now
Mix with this sand

Native son I welcome you back home. Why
Are you here? My heart cries out I must go
Down to this bay again I will stay awhile
I will listen to your surf as it says now
Bow your head and say a prayer be thankful
For the precious memories that you made here

My name is now Fisherman’s Wharf
But let it be known
I was once the mighty Waypole Bay.

About the Author, Godfrey Cyntje

“I was born in Anegada on May of 1946. In those days there were no electricity or running water to the homes. To have that luxury was a dream beyond anyone reach.
I went to the Methodist school highest grade you could attend was the seventh standard that was the end of your formal education. A few was able to go to Road Town, Tortola where the standards went a little higher.
I developed a love for reading in those days you would read any book or magazine you could find or walk 1 mile to lend a good book.
My love for writing came because I always feel I can express myself better when I write something then when I speak. I have felt many times no one listens to what I have to say. But in writing the words comes from the heart, and I hope the reader feels it.
The old Anegada that I knew is gone. But memories of how things were in the past haunts me crying out like stories wanting to be told. I move to St Thomas in 1958 got into St.Peter and Paul Catholic School where I graduated from.
Went to work afterward, retired in 1993 and moved to Tampa Florida with my wife Patricia. We have 3 children and 9 grandchildren.”