IN THE beginning was the word and the word was good. Damn good.
As fleecy white clouds took over where angry skies had been, four such masters of the word from three different countries emerged on the stage of the Calabash International Literary Festival, in Treasure Beach, last Friday night.
Dingo, Willie Perdomo, Lynne Procope and Saul Williams were the featured poets in the Tongues of Fire segment of the evening. Whether or not they eat or breathe fire or both these poets were definitely 'hot'.
First up was Dingo. The only Jamaican of the group, Dingo had the audience, many of whom seemed to be fans, eating from his hands before he even spoke. As he approached the stage one man yelled "Wild dog!" and followed it up with a bark. Dingo more than lived up to the audience's expectations, keeping them entertained with his poems and his comments between pieces. He started out by stating that after Calabash last year, he planned to go home and write some wicked poems to come back this year. However, as he had an entire year he didn't have to 'pressure' himself. "Mi manage fi finish two a dem last week," he told the amused audience.
No one was disappointed, however. The material, whether it was old or new, dealt with a myriad of themes ranging from love and longing to social commentary. The first work, Jamaica Land We Love, falls into the category of social commentary poems. It looks at the wide-cross-section of problems and paradoxes which plague or, more appropriately suffocate our country. Another poem which looked at social commentary, although it was focused on humanity in general, is About Land. This poem took a witty analytical look at the politics and 'politrics' built with land and what this relationship means and says about us.
The other new poem which Dingo introduced is Love and Hate, which is a poem filled with pain. In the introduction to Love and Hate, he stated that he did not normally do poems about his family, especially his parents because he found them too personal. Nonetheless, this year he would. "But mi deh yah las' year an mi hear nuff people a light up dem ole people so..." he said in explanation.
Of course, Dingo also delighted with a couple of old favourites. He performed Blouse and Skirt Vibe and I Want A Woman. These two certainly wowed the audience, making them at times laugh and at others simply smile knowingly.
Saul Williams also gave a very impressive performance. He started out with a poem dedicated to Kool Herc, which he stated is a manifesto of those who have been hypnotised by the 'break beat' of hip-hop. Listening to Williams' poetry, it is evident that he has been influenced by hip hop. However, his rhythms are not a mere reflection of the hip-hop beat and the art form's tendency to break, re-work and re-pair words. It is a celebration of this. His words often flow so fast they literally tumble from his tongue to wash over his awed audience.
Interestingly, before reading Lunacy or Moon I, which is a part of a trilogy written before and after the birth of his daughter, Saturn, Williams explained what he meant by 'motherf--ker'. This explanation was very important, as the expletive greatly populated the poem. He stated: "When I say motherf--ker I mean it. I don't just use it for shock value, meaning those who desecrate the feminine."
Williams also read from his book She. The book of poetry is about relationships and contains many short works. Williams stated that the period during which he wrote the book, 1998, was the first time he felt like a poet. He stated that at the time he was "dressed in black, drinking coffee and very depressed". The book demonstrated that depression, but interestingly, it made the audience and the poet laugh. At one point he stated: "I've written a book of comedy."
Willie Perdomo, who is evidently used to shouting his poetry, was quite a shock after the low smooth deliveries by Dingo, whom he had directly followed. Nonetheless, his poetry was quite impressive, once the ears were acclimatised to the volume. Perdomo read from his book Where A Nickel Costs A Dime, which focuses on his experiences in New York, including his upbringing. Perdomo, who is a declared 'Nuyorican', was loud but intense. One of the poems which certainly stood out is Forty Bullets Over Broadway, which deals with the Amadou Diallo killing. Perdomo's writings have featured in several publications. He has also appeared on HBO's Def Poetry Jam.
The only woman to be featured in this segment, Lynne Procope, followed Perdomo. Procope describes herself as "a Third World poet writing at the jagged rim of the First World". Procope is a co-author of Burning Down the House as well as a member of the 1997 National Slam Championship team. Procope's poetry reflected both her Trinidadian heritage and the fact that she now lives in the US. One of her poems which stood out was Objects of Malachi, which was interestingly about loss, but it was not depressing. Procope also did a fabulously erotic poem, which while declaring that it was not a sex poem, went into so much detail that it was one.
The introduction to the segment asked the question "what the hell is the spoken word?" If after these four poets one still was not sure how to define it, one thing was evident, whatever it is, it is good.
