By Tanya Batson, Staff ReporterON SUNDAY evening courtesy of the 'Voice: The Spoken Word in Action', the Livity Restaurant served up a healthy dose of steaming poetry. The headliner for the evening was Stacy Ann Chin, but the three poets, Gina Rey Forest, Dingo and Tanya Shirley, who shared the stage with her, were no mean comparison.
Dingo thrilled the audience with his work. When he got to the stage he noted that he had intended to present something new, but, "di new ting dem no dun yet," he said with his trademark grin. As a result he stuck with the old, and a few not so old, favourites. He told the audience, "If oonu hear mi before, a di same ole, same ole, but if oonu neva hear mi before mi have some bran' new tings tonight." Having sufficiently warmed the audience, they were putty beneath his words from then on.
He started by delving into his very early work and pulling forth Too Strong. Although he prefaced the humorous and sensual piece by saying that early works usually make writers cringe when they look back, the audience loved it. The poem dealt with a would-be Romeo's attempts to romance a woman on the street. It therefore resulted in a lightning quick trading of quips. When the intended quarry was described as a woman with 'a rear you could see from in front' the men in the audience, who had been largely quiet so far, shouted their assent, and did so once more when Dingo made reference to 'breasts that could cure lactose intolerance'.
Other favourites which he performed were She Did Have a Blouse and Skirt Vibe and I Want a Woman. Before performing the latter, he asked if anyone was tired of hearing it. In response, he received a resounding "No!" Dingo also performed For Courie using a mixture of rap and poetry to create a stark picture of the harsh realities of living, or dying rather, in the ghetto.
OLD FAVOURITES
Mixed in with these old favourites were his not-so-brand-new pieces Land and Love and Hate. Before performing Love and Hate he noted that he had intended to do it only once, but decided to repeat it. The audience was glad that he did. The piece is a very personal look an abusive father/son relationship. It begins with the powerful words 'Love and hate burn equally severe holes in my retina' and the pace never slackens from there. It focuses on a particular memory of the persona's brother being cruelly flogged. This cruelty bonds the siblings as they are all the 'survivors of the same war' though they are from different 'wombs'.
Land is a satirical poem which looks at the politics of naming, in relation to land. It takes a close look at power relations in owning and distributing land, creating a good balance of seriousness and humour. The poem makes the very funny, but poignant statement, 'I'd a like fi know who sell di firs' piece a land. Da bredda deh skil' then moves on to point out that the only difference between squatting and civilisation is that the civilisation process usually involves many more people who kill the original owners of the land.
His segment was then rounded out by Jamaica Land We Love, which is a complete indictment of the problems in our country. It begins with the statement that Jamaica is 'hobbling along on three flats' before going on to paint a picture that will never make its way onto a Jamaica Tourist Board poster. He spoke of the lower class as being 'catapulted from wombs to suck struggle at the nipple', while the middle class has so effectively made themselves impotent that they could not 'galvanise zinc'.
SURVIVAL
The poem stated that in Jamaica, survival has become a short-sighted disease. It is a 'cataract'. As a result of this film which has grown over the eyes, rendering justice truly blind; 'Commissions of enquiry are needed to find the burial grounds of former commissions of enquiry'. The speaker goes on to explain that he is not a poet, simply a 'fly on the wall with a shotgun or 'a cocky unformed oyster browsing jewellery catalogues'.
Old or new, his material was well received.
Tanya Shirley preceded Dingo to the stage, for a shorter performance. She started with Guinep, which is a deceptively simple poem about the danger of speech and thought. Her political position got clearer when she delved into Man and Woman Speak to History parts one and two. The poems examine the sexual history of slavery and how its effects continue to be lived out.
The tone of her poetry then changed with He Says He Loves Me, a piece which seemed to have intended to be much more interesting than it turned out to be. The poem dissects the word 'love' and comes to the conclusion that the statement 'he loves me' simply means he wants to 'sleep with me'.
Her most powerful piece however, was For My Grandmother. This piece moved the poet to tears as it seemed to evoke an all too fresh pain. It is a very graphic image of the pain of caring for the dying and the impotence which comes with it. Shirley also performed Millennium, The Duppy Conqueror, Sunday Ritual and My Christian Friend among others.
FAIR JOB
Gina Rey Forest opened and closed the show. Although her performance was not quite up to scratch, she did a fair job. She performed a few of the pieces from her book, Hot Sweet Chocolate: A Celebration of Love and Desire. Her first stint at the microphone began with His Eyes, His Song.
Forest also performed Garden Romp and Chocolate Binge the first time at the microphone. Unfortunately, by the time she reappeared, the night had gone on for longer than expected and most of the audience was ready to go. She wisely kept her performance short with Wakeup Call and Flashbacks. However, neither had their usually rousing effect.
Nonetheless, the night had been a rather successful one.
