"She said, as though to herself, ‘If it wasn’t
for the children…’”
– V.S. Naipaul, A House for Mr Biswas (1961)
Men whose words pillow play combat, intestines never
felt earth shudders in combat, wave^point to home
school flagpole dancers . import joint cartilage
for peace.
/ On Princess Day ! good
news for kiss ‘n’ swell crapaud, score keepers ask
How is the man today ? three sons, four daughters
bead coin counting . sweat ‘n’ net to goal.
I hate comparisons with oil, the actor said,
cinema ’65 visiting Georgetown . the roadways safe
for bicycles | potholes back filled with plantain
chip^like dried blood.
*
So I went with this other man ~ canefield bed
room Okay, where? ~ kindest soul I ever met
horse holding | how so return ? those conch lip
service calls.
/ All our blow
flame lovers losing breath have fled . match
sticks scratching elsewhere.
Think of a place
~ no feathers flute Go Pluck Yourself ~ avenue
contractions toss | henna tattoo^like en garde
to mothers How you could do that? say nothing.
– W.W.
YUH RAP SO (0.3)
+ Did Thomasson know he was fooling himself
With a colonistic knowing more about
The natives than they wanted to know about
Themselves? Was that how he had flattered his flock
In cobwebby New Amsterdam? where he’d tricked
One woman out of his confessional and
Into bed with him, ignoring her husband
(& children) + their respected livelihood
As importers + retailers of dry goods:
Not a few of their starched sheets did their priest stain
Before he asked to be transferred to Georgetown
(from “Raponani” by Brian Chan, 2023)
FARJOURNEY CARIBBEAN 