A Prayer for My Children, by Geoffrey Philp

I am sharing another Geoffrey Philp poem, "A Prayer for My Children" from his collection, DubWise (Peepal Tree Press) 2011. 

A Prayer for My Children

When you find yourself in a faraway land
surrounded by men, animals that mutter strange
sounds, do not be afraid: neither you, your parents,
nor your ancestors have ever been alone.
So trust the earth to bear you up, follow
the wind as it leads you through valleys
clustered with trees heavy with fruit –
some that seem familiar enough to eat,
but you still aren’t sure they are the same
 as the ones you left on the other side
of the river that you’ve now forgotten.

Eat. Feast on the bounty. Feed the fire
that burns away the knot in your stomach,
sets ablaze the horizon, all that your eyes
can see – that has been promised to you
since your cry pierced the morning air:
your parents bathed you with kisses,
baptized you with caresses,
swaddled you in care before you uttered
your first words to the moon, sun, stars,
wobbled your first steps into unknowing –
all the while rising into your inheritance.

And if you awaken under the branches of a cotton tree,
cradled in its roots, draw a circle around yourself
 and all those whom you love, cross
yourself three times before you step
over the threshold. Welcome the ancestors,
all the kindly spirits who have followed you,
your parents across many seas, oceans,
and deserts; entertain them with strong drink
and soft food: rice, yams, bananas, the ever
present rum to bless the hands that have lifted
you up, and sanctified the place you now call home.

Copyright 2011 Geoffrey Philp. Reprinted with author's permission.

A Chocolate Sonnet

My poem, A Chocolate Sonnet, placed third in Pen and Prosper's I'm Sweet on Chocolate Poetry Contest. I have always been such a chocoholic, so this contest was a lot of fun. Below are my two entries in the contest, A Chocolate Sonnet, and Chocoholic Me.

A Chocolate Sonnet

Wondering what the world would be like
if we just never had any chocolate.
Writers wouldn't have the creative spike
and remarkable characters we'd never get.
This sweet, irresistable taste,
food of the gods, and symbol of love;
eaten at leisure, or eaten in haste
endorphins unleashed, ideas fly like a dove.
Give us our chocolate, writers declare,
without it not a line we can write.
Unless we have it, we wallow in despair;
writer's block wins out, o what a fright!
Chocolate, o chocolate, you are the thing
whose praises writers everywhere sing.


Chocoholic Me

Chocoholic me, penning words
in between my must-have chocolate fix;
fixing commas, adding a line
while on glorious chocolate I dine.
Godiva
Ghirardeli
Hershey's
any one will do,
while I compose a poem or two.
My world would never be complete
without my chocolate, o so sweet
and I could never, never write
until I have had my first bite!

Copyright  2012 Yasmin Morais

Book Giveaway: Ishion Hutchinson's Far District

As promised, in celebration of Poets of the Caribbean's two-year blogoversary, I am giving away a copy of Ishion Hutchinson's Far District to the first person to post a comment here. Please remember to leave your email address or twitter handle so that I can make contact and arrange for delivery.

Stay tuned next week for another giveaway, as we wind down the October celebrations. In the meantime, please continue to check out the writings and advocacy of this month's poet, Geoffrey Philp.

 

Caribbean Literary Salon Interviews Geoffrey Philp

As we focus on Geoffrey Philp's work during October, I would like to share this interview that Geoffrey granted to Caribbean Literary Salon.

Stay tuned for book giveaways this week! 

Geoffrey Philp's Standpipe

There is a Jamaican community near Papine, in Kingston, called Standpipe. In the following poem, entitled "Standpipe", Geoffrey Philp reflects on that community.


Standpipe

Tonight rain comes like forgetting;
pine needles scrape against jalousies

like the recurrent dream that rouses conscience
from sleep, for the rain brings no relief,

but urges only flight: the need to forgive
or to be forgiven. Vain acts stalk the ghetto

like revolution, and the rain keeps falling.
Standpipe's children still live unsheltered,

and you keep wishing the rain will wash
their anguished tears away. No such luck.

Raging gullies remain unchanged.
Remembering only the vague pledge of fire

Repeated across the sky as zinc fences
shiver, and the water quietly flows.

(The Oxford Book of Caribbean Verse. Edited by Steward Brown & Mark McWatt. Oxford University Press, 2005)

Copyright Geoffrey Philp.
Reprinted with author's permission.

Geoffrey Philp

Geoffrey Philp is a Jamaica poet, novelist, playwright, and my definition of a cultural warrior, who tirelessly promotes Caribbean culture and heritage. Geoffrey holds a Master of Arts degree in Creative Writing from the University of Miami.

He is the author of novels, plays, short stories and several collectons of poetry. His work appears in many publications, including The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories, The Oxford Book of Caribbean Verse, The Caribbean Writer, Small Axe, Asili, and Gulf Stream.

Geoffrey has been an Artist-in-Residence at the Seaside Institute, and has received James Michener fellowships and many other awards, including the Canute Brodhurst Prize.

Check out Geoffrey's blog and you can also connect with him on Twitter and on Facebook

Guess what, Geoffrey's also giving away Grandpa Sydney's Anancy Stories on Kindle until 10/6/12, so hop over to his blog for details!

Stay tuned during October for more on this amazing poet!

Poets of the Caribbean is Two Years Old

Happy blogoversary to Poets of the Caribbean!

Two years ago, I created this blog to promote Caribbean poets and poetry, and what an amazing experience it has been. I have interacted with so many outstanding Caribbean poets, read truly inspiring poetry, and learned a whole lot more about the rich and multilingual heritage of Caribbean poetry. To date, there have been over 18,000 page views from so many different countries. I have also created a list of Caribbean poets, in an effort to capture the many poets from the region, and it has been the most viewed post to date.

Join me during this month as I shine the spotlight on another interesting and talented poet, novelist, playwright and cultural warrior, Geoffrey Philp. Throughout October also, I will be sharing prizes and surprises as I celebrate my two-year blogoversary.

Thanks to all the poets who have graciously shared their works, guest-posted, granted interviews and shared their comments.

It has been such a worthwhile experience for me, and I thank you for your readership, your comments, and, I look forward to more interaction from you, as we celebrate the work of Caribbean poets.