How to use this Page

To give the Chinese proverb in its entirety, ‘Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come’ – and to extend the metaphor (or revert it … Continue reading ... →

I only came across A Caribbean Dozen: Poems from Caribbean Poets recently and am making up for lost time! Editors John Agard and Grace Nichols have brought together a selection of verse from thirteen poets, including themeselves, and the book is vibrantly illustrated by Cathie Felstead. One of the things I love about it is that each poet introduces him or herself, with reminiscences of their childhood and how they were introduced to poetry. Those extracts alone make wonderful, inspirational reading. So here are three energetic extracts to give you a feel for this wonderful anthology:

From “What the Teacher Said When Asked: What Er We Avin for Geography, Miss?” by John Agard:

This morning I’ve got too much energy
much too much for geography

I’m in a high mood
so class don’t think me crude
but you can stuff latitude and longitude

I’ve had enough of the earth’s crust
today I want to touch the clouds [...]

I’m not settling for river beds
I want the sky and nothing less…

All you teachers out there, don’t you feel like this sometimes! And here’s a bit of “Quao” by Pamela Mordecai:

Quao
is a
lizard.
he is a
wizard
at catching
flies…

and finally, because it’s Friday: “I Love The” by Marc Matthews:

…friday night
smell of mammie
baking bread
putting me to
sleep, dreaming
of jumping from
the highest branch
of the jamoon tree
into the red water
creek
beating calton
run & catching
the biggest fish
in the world
plus…

This whole book is full of zing. The poetry transports its readers to the sunny Caribbean islands but also speaks to them of deep, universal truths…

This week’s Poetry Friday is hosted by Liz Scanlon at Liz in Ink – head on over!