Cane piece

Meaning

A field or plot of sugar cane — 'piece' meaning a section of land. The cane piece is the working heart of sugar country: cut at crop-time, sometimes burnt before reaping, and heavy with the history of plantation labour. Children were also warned against playing or hiding in the cane piece, where snakes lurk and it's easy to get lost among the tall stalks.

Examples

• Dem cut di cane piece at crop time.

  They cut the cane field at harvest time.

• Nuh go inna di cane piece, snake deh deh.

  Don't go into the cane field; there are snakes there.

• Di cane piece burn before dem reap it.

  The cane field is burnt before they reap it.

Origin

From 'cane' (sugar cane) + 'piece' (a plot of land); a sugar-cane field. See [[sugar-cane]], [[crop-time]].

How it’s used

A field/plot of sugar cane. See [[sugar-cane]], [[crop-time]], [[ground]].