Doris At The River, By Ishion Hutchinson

Enjoy another poem entitled "Doris At The River", by poet of the month, Ishion Hutchinson. It certainly has been a real pleasure featuring the work of this extremely talented Jamaican poet.


Doris At The River

There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds
Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke.
                                           - Shakespeare, Hamlet

Her melody broke through a shell
over the town that August we found
her in the arms of native Ariel,
strands of hair and leaves in her mouth.

Who knew she lived in such troubled
branches, in the corners of daydreams,
singing the perfect epitaph:
All things that you possess, possess their death.

The river streaked into a brown mirror,
the tail of her slime-green dress brushed
fallen woods of decay as we pulled her out.
Her hands were clasped on her chest.

This was the work of devotion,
not art - the silver of love, cracked.
Ants draped her eyelids, indifferent
to the sun and us staring down.

Copyright Ishion Hutchinson 2010. Far District. Peepal Tree Press Ltd. Leeds, UK.

Reprinted with author's permission.

UWI Writers' Workshop

The Department of Literatures, University of the West Indies at Mona, will be holding the first in a series of writers' workshops in early November. Renowed Trinidadian writer, Earl Lovelace, will be conducting the workshop. More details are in The Jamaica Gleaner. Read more here too on the Fifth Edward Baugh Distinguished Lecture, which Earl Lovelace will deliver.

Abeng, by Ishion Hutchinson

I am sharing today the poem Abeng, which is from Ishion Hutchinson's Far District. The abeng is a type of horn, used ceremonially by the Maroons of Jamaica. Present day Jamaican Maroons are descendants of the slaves who ran away in the mountains of Jamaica, fiercely resisted enslavement, and eventually forced the British to sign treaties with them. Famous Maroons were Cudjoe and Nanny (national heroine of Jamaica).  Abeng is believed to be the Akan word for horn.

Abeng

The colonel's face turns to mist,
the tasselled-horn trembles in his hand

before he raises it to his lips
and hears a goat's faint wail -

thin like straw grass he blew as a child
at the foot of the Blue Mountain.

They will come soon, the old people,
to the village centre, with no memories,

mist in their eyes, their mouths parched
at the once-a-month ceremonial meeting.

This is how culture dies, the colonel sighs,
watching as smoke goes through the leaves,

joining the horn's call, all one echo;
nothing from Cudjoe, or Queen Nanny,

neither long-head Accompong;
the smoke is just smoke,

but a flight of blackbirds
burst from the treetops.

He lowers the ranking ram's horn,
and says, At least some still runaway.

Copyright Ishion Hutchinson 2010. Far District. Peepal Tree Press Ltd. Leeds.
Reprinted with author's permission.

Far District - Reviews

Below are some links to reviews of Ishion Hutchinson's Far District:

http://jmww.150m.com/Hutchinsonrev.html

http://www.jamaicanliterature.com/2011/02/far-district-poems-by-ishion-hutchinson/

Just a reminder that the first person to post a comment will receive a copy of Far District.

Free Ebook!

In celebration of Poets of the Caribbean's one year mark, I am giving away the e-book version of From Cane Field to the Sea, throughout the month of October.

Enter coupon code SU57E here on checkout for your free copy!

Also, the first person to comment with the correct answer to who was the first poet featured on Poets of the Caribbean will win a copy of Ishion Hutchinson's Far District.

Don't miss out on these giveaways.

Ishion Hutchinson

October's poet is Ishion Hutchinson. Ishion was born in Port Antonia, Jamaica and attended Happy Grove and Titchfield High Schools, as well as the University of the West Indies, Mona. He was awarded the Calabash Writer's Workshop scholarship and is a founding member of The Workshop. Ishion also has an MFA in Poetry from New York University.

Ishion Hutchinson

Ishion's first collection, Far District (published by Peepal Tree Press), recently won the PEN/Joyce Osterweil Award for poetry. Prior to this award, he had also received the Larry Levis Prize for Poetry, which was awarded by the Academy of American Poets.

Ishion's work has appeared in LA Review, Callaloo, Caribbean Review of Books, Poetry International, and the chapbook, Bryan's Bay.

If you have read Far District, share your feedback. Stay tuned throughout the month for more on Ishion's work.

Poets of the Caribbean is One Year Old!

Happy Blogoversary to Poets of the Caribbean!

It is so hard to believe that Poets of the Caribbean is a year old today. As I celebrate my "blogoversary", I want to say a special thanks to you all for visiting the blog and checking out the celebrated and extraordinary poets that I have featured throughout the year. Thank you for your interest, your time, and your comments.

Your interest in Caribbean poets and poetry motivates me to continue to promote the rich literature of the English, Spanish, French and Dutch Caribbean. I look forward to bringing you more interesting poets and poetry in the months ahead.

Here are some interesting statistics about where you have tuned in from, and the most-viewed posts:

Top 10 Countries

• United States
• Jamaica
• United Kingdom
• Canada
• Trinidad & Tobago
• Germany
• India
• Belize
• France
• Russia

Top 10 Posts:

• List of Caribbean Poets
• Bedspread by Lorna Goodison
• Literary Life After the Caribbean International Literary Festival
• Joan Andrea Hutchinson
• Easton Lee, Talented Chinese-Jamaican Poet
• Easton Lee on Caribbean Poetry, etc.
• The Mulatta as Penelope
• Cyril Dabydeen
• Nancy Morejon
• Dat Bumpyhead Gal

As I promised in a previous post this week, there will be giveaways and other surprises throughout the month of October as I celebrate. Now, to make this as interactive and fun-filled as possible, you have some work to do!

To kick this off, the first person who comments correctly on the first poet I featured on this blog will receive our October poet, Ishion Hutchinson's Far District. Ready, Set, Go!