LAWLISMEDS

http://www.africaspeaks.com Today a young man is being buried as rain water washes away any debris that may have lingered after his tragic accident. Today, I pour a small libation to him because he belonged to a community and the community is the most tragic part of his demise. The African man is known to whenever he is blessed with wealth, to share it in a “boasy” way: send the youth them to school, throw a treat Christmas time, give a youth bus fare to go on an interview, buy liquor at the dance and so on. This is the action of the real big man. And the real big man in a community does this as well not just for the joy of giving but the knowledge that reciprocation occurs, as his investment, his personage is likely to be protected because he is where their “food” comes from, hopefully. All is done in service of self and the community. Motorbike accident on Clifton Boulevard A few weeks ago, I watched a Rasta man ride his bike and crash in a very horrific manne...

When I closed my eyes at night I saw myself as a hip hop poet, a little poet who is androgynous in art and form, tattoo filled chilling back in a house on a hill driving a jeep with the love of my life and my child at my side. A dream carved out of poetry. Yeah I said it poetry. Not music, storytelling or any other lyrical genre, not even performance poetry. Poetry the real deal, page poetry kind of deal. An art form that some say is dead. Or boring. Or too complicated. Or just not bought in bookshops. Which has me now in this stage of my life thinking about the contemporary Caribbean poet a few of whom I have been lucky to have met, read or even laughed strange laughs with. All of whom I feel completely inferior to, let me do some name calling so you can get the idea: Kei Miller, Ishion Hutchinson, Tanya Shirley, Christian Campbell, Millicent Graham and even Ann Margerett Lyn last but not least M'bala, all published poets in one way or another. All Caribbea...