"The soft of the night into morning
Felt here . remembered
Under the hoofs of the cart"
- from "Mesongs", Kamau Brathwaite
Heard ‘bout him ? on mission post plantation; house
him build side washed by hurricane . gunmen invade
We neva knew was him | how he kept afloat, swore
his hounfour stave of heart would beat . the next
beard cutting dealer back; course set, Cow Pastor.
Dead plants attract the pity of the forker who reads
in heaven’s silence disappointment with how earth
works – tubers / in cluster prove time priming / Listen,
chest to ground . breakers ride slow.
His nose tell for dust ways urged scaffold builders
don’t get stuck in blow charts past | women fending
felt the dress tuck of his ‘poeia . knees in limbo
on volcano grit bit.
Done! beach ‘n’ heat . retreating cruise ships out
at sea looking back at him / Cal'ban houm zinc
groove marking / hadn’t a clue how he arrived, thrived
inside island mix match, skin game scratch.
His work, place overgrown with weeds ? Sorry,
indifferent island . rigor legends set, pulse charge
Eh eh! make believable.
– W.W.
LESSING
To reach for the sleep he hasn't been able
To fully enter since leaving the Fragrant
Harbour of Hong Kong to cross the Mirror Sea
To the Inlet Gates of Aomen – whose amen-omen
Lessing’s Shadow, win or lose at the Tables,
Can not unleech himself of, the clinging sense
That’s he’s never again going to leave this
Colony: it’s about to be his graveyard.
(from “Charon’s Anchors” by Brian Chan)
FARJOURNEY CARIBBEAN 