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“When the race gets hard to run. It means you just can’t take the pace” – Bob Marley

June 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment

The first lines of a poem that I am working on reads something like this: “As a child I was born with karmic exhaustion, Today my spirit holds my body captive leaving my heart to play the role of hostage negotiator.” The line came to me after reading the above quote by Bob Marley. And just for the heck of it I am going to throw in another favorite Marley quote: “Open your eyes, look within. Are you satisfied with the life you’re living?”

Louise Bennett is the mother of Jamaican poetry (or at least many think so) – she promoted and performed poetry and through her unique style made Jamaican poetry acceptable (this was back in the day when poetry had to be written in proper English). Mutabaruka on the other had is a straght up revolutionary, that I am sure everyone has heard of.

Noh Little Twang!

Me glad fe se’s you come back bwoy,
But lawd yuh let me dung,
Me shame o’ yuh soh till all o’
Me proudness drop a grung.

Yuh mean yuh goh dah ‘Merica
An spen six whole mont’ deh,
An come back not a piece betta
Dan how yuh did goh wey?

Bwoy yuh noh shame? Is soh you come?
Afta yuh tan soh lang!
Not even lickle language bwoy?
Not even little twang?

An yuh sista wat work ongle
One week wid ‘Merican
She talk so nice now dat we have
De jooce fe undastan?

Bwoy yuh couldn’ improve yuhself!
An yuh get soh much pay?
Yuh spen six mont’ a foreign, an
Come back ugly same way?

Not even a drapes trouziz? or
A pass de rydim coat?
Bwoy not even a gole teet or
A gole chain roun yuh t’roat.

Suppose me las’ rne pass go introjooce
Yuh to a stranga
As me lamented son wat lately
Come from ‘Merica!

Dem hooda laugh afta me, bwoy
Me could’n tell dem soh!
Dem hooda sey me lie, yuh was
A-spen time back a Mocho.

Noh back-ansa me bwoy, yuh talk
Too bad; shet up yuh mout,
Ah doan know how yuh an yuh puppa
Gwine to meck it out.

Ef yuh want please him meck him tink
Yuh bring back someting new.
Yuh always call him “Pa” dis evenin’
Wen him come sey “Poo”.

Filed Under: -Traditions: Americas Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Live a life less ordinary, do the impossible

June 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment

What is a life less ordinary (yeah I am listening to Carbon Leaf)? I think for me it’s living a life that inspires some kind of change for the better. Which is why I found it interesting that one of the fathers of the Harlem Renaissance (I blog a lot about renaissance) was Jamaican – Claude Mckay. He was one of the first poets to publish poetry in patois in Jamaica, which won him recognition in his country. Having established himself as a poet in the Caribbean he moved to the USA in his 20s and spent the rest of his time traveling, never to return to Jamaica (I am glad to see that there are others who love the concept of living their birthplace in quest of fortune elsewhere).

Once in the USA he was shocked by the race relations in the country and was drawn into the political movement. His poetry book, Harlem Shadows, was one of the first book published during the Harlem Renaissance. This was one of the first books by an African American author to achieve national accord and go mainstream. It opened the doors for others. Of course, Marcus Garvey, another Jamaican, took the black movement political and global.

The interesting thing about Mckay and why I would say his life is a life less ordinary is that he spent a lot of time traveling but he didn’t just stay in the country in which he travelled – he became socially involved in the politics and the social thinking of the day and really tested his beliefs. When he was in London he got mixed up with the communist party (he later abandoned communism after living in one of the Communist countries) and when he was in France he was involved in the “negritude movement” and when in Harlem he inspired a renaissance. A life less ordinary is a life lived totally – never being a spectator on this journey but choosing a side and sticking by it or testing the strength of your beliefs.

Filed Under: -Caribbean Traditions Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Winners for Glastonbury poetry contest announced

June 24, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Poetry&Words has announced the winners for the online poetry contest:

1) Lincoln Logs
Junior year,
I caught my college roommate
jerking off to the Jesus channel.
I tease him for it endlessly
even though, in truth,
we pray the same way,
just to different gods.

I spend entire days letting out my id
which I tend to think is mild mannered
till it’s given room to roam.

I haven’t regularly brushed my teeth in almost six years
simply because I found I didn’t have to.
My teeth are starting to rot out my head
but I’m just amazed
every time the sun sinks and sprouts even though
I didn’t pick up my toothbrush.
I also don’t drive inside the lines
for the same reasons.

I love you, Allen,
I smoke marijuana every chance I get too,
I’m just not as proud of it as you are

I’m not in love, but I pretend I am
Sometimes I pretend I’m not in love even when I think I am
but nobody’s fooling myself.

I use the word “I” far too much
But I swear to myself
That I’m not all I’m concerned with.

I play with words like Lincoln Logs
but I’d pay a nickel a syllable
if they stood even a quarter as sturdy

2) The coldness of loss
There is the orange hue, the
last remnant of the day, there
are the softly falling snowflakes,
there is the lawn turned white,
there are the twigs, fingers raised
accusingly at the sky, there is
the threat of winter rain, there is
the warbling of the birds, there is an
icy wind that takes my
hands away. There isn’t
You.

The hours pass, there is a
stillness around me, in me,
there’s the first hello
of the moon, as it drapes
a sheet of white around the woods,
there are the blades of grass
turned silver, there are the
stars that wink at me and want
to play, there is a cloak
of silence wrapped around
the frozen lake, there is
the winter rain at last. There isn’t
Me.

Filed Under: Art of Spoken Word Tagged With: , , ,

J. Greenland: “The most directly African element in Jamaican culture is verbal”

June 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment

What is freedom in the physical sense (I am not talking free in mind and spirit but free tangibly) and why is it that I do not feel that today? Physical freedom to me is freedom of movement/ migration across country borders or across states (to do business) and I am wondering why I keep feeling restricted by laws? Is the reason we have borders to hold on to our own sense of identities – to be one thing instead of a mix of many things? But what is the role of language in identity? These are the questions running through my head but back to Jamaica…

Jamaica is actually very well known for its literature which stems from the oral tradition of storytelling. Some of the most famous storytellers in the Caribbean (or the world) are Jamaican – Amina Blackwood-Meeks , Jean Small, Adziko Simba.

In Jamaica the tradition of storytelling is a mix of folktales from Africa and Europe – which tells us a lot about the history of the country and the mix of cultures and identities (hard to be only one thing in this world). Jamaican storytellers use local speech (patois) and humor to tell the story even when telling traditional European fairy tales. In fact the oral tradition of fairy tales is very popular in Jamaica and have their own local feel and take.

Interestingly enough the most popular character in Jamaican stories is the same character that is popular in Native American folktales – the spider. The character – Anancy is the spider-god in most Jamaican folktales originates from the Ashanti tribe in Africa (most of the slaves originated from here) and is more of a trickster that spends his time outsmarting other animal gods. In the stories Anancy does not always succeed but he always learns a lesson.

It is from this oral tradition of storytelling that Jamaican literature and poetry stems – many poets and writers in Jamaica write in the local dialect. Even the creator of James Bond, Ian Fleming got his inspiration from Jamaica. Truth!

Filed Under: -Caribbean Traditions Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Rastafari is deeper than weed/ pot/ dope

June 22, 2009 By Leave a Comment

“Won’t you help to sing these songs of freedom? Redemption songs” – Bob Marley

I could not blog about Jamaica without really blogging about Rastafari (or having a quote from my favorite Bob Marley song) because to be honest that’s what we all think of when we think Jamaica (after herb, of course). I feel compelled to point out that pious Rastas actually do not smoke weed for fun and others do not even use it at all (shock!). Rastas consider smoking weed a spiritual experience to aid meditation and please Jah (double shock!!). But for whatever reason the press keeps pushing the image of the Rasta as a stoner…

Marcus Garvey is linked to the rise of Rastafari. We all know Garvey as a political leader and one of the first revolutionaries in the struggle for black power. But what the history books often omit, but oral traditions carry forward, is that Garvey was also considered a prophet by his followers (true). He fought against the concept of a white Jesus and is credited with performing many miracles and prophecies, including the prediction of the rise of a “mighty king” in Africa. He predicted that this king would bring justice to the oppressed, stating: ‘”look to Africa, when a black king shall be crowned, for the day of deliverance is at hand.”

So of course, when Halie Selassie (born Prince (Ras) Tafari) was crowned emperor his followers were convinced that the prophecy had come to pass and even though Garvey disagreed with Rastafari philosophies (he considered them crazy and fanatical) people ignored him, replying that even Jesus was doubted. They were convinced that Halie Selassie was the chosen one (truth is stranger than fiction). Even to this day some Rastas cannot believe that Halie Selassie is dead because they see him as God. This was all during the 1930s; and until the ’60s Rastafari was limited to Jamaica.

Interestingly, because of their dreads and beards and beliefs a lot of Rastas were discriminated against in Jamaica and many were forced to hide their religion if the wanted jobs etc. This led to some serious tension in the country and Rastas came to be seen as a revolutionary threat to the system. And because at some point our fears start to materialize they actually did become revolutionary through the spoken word – music and poetry. In many ways reggae music and its explicitly religious lyrics and norms turned the tide and made dreads, beards and different beliefs okay. Despite (or because of) its revolutionary talk reggae spawned a global movement (although many joined for the weed LOL). And of course today there are poets that just focus on writing Rasta poetry – poetry by Rastas and/or about Rastas explaining Rastafari ideologies:

Filed Under: -Asian Traditions Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
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