Duane Francis in action.
'INDULGENCE WIT Intelligence' was a night that combined raunchy and socially conscientious poetry. Although most of Jamaica was out (or in) watching the Reggae Boyz, the Dub Traffickers and their Poemtry Industry, along with Gina Rey Forest, showcased three poets. The featured poets were Forest, Glen Laughton and Duane Francis.
The turnout at the Windglen Garden Restaurant on Roosevelt Avenue was very low. Nonetheless, this did not seem to impact on the effort of the performers. "It's just our misfortune that we had it on the same night as football, but we'll give you a good show nonetheless," announced Gina Rey Forest at the start of the show.
Due to the traffic which gridlocked the Kingston 5 area on Wednesday night, the show got off to a late start. Nonetheless, once it got going, it flowed smoothly.
The greatest drawback to the evening was that if you are a fan of poetry, then most of the work read was stuff already heard several times. Nonetheless, several of these poems, especially the more risqué ones, retained their impact.
These sexy and often saucy rhymes were used to close the night. It began with Laughton, who had the greatest poetic grasp. Laughton is able to capture the rhythm added by the use of rhyme, yet his words are not hampered or imprisoned by his rhyme scheme.
He began this is second set with One Dance, which describes sex in very cosmic terms. From there he moved on to The Fling. This piece was the first of those which had the small audience either coughing or saying knowing 'hmms'. The Fling can essentially be described as a long litany of sex.
Reverse It, which seemed to be a poetic interpretation of the rap, Back That Thing Up, also went towards heating up the temperature in the garden. So too did his final poem, A Document for Piece, which suffice it to say, was not a treatise to the United Nations.
Smoke This nicely balanced the raunchy and the sensual. In the poem, the persona applies for the position of being the object of his desire's next addiction.
Gina Rey Forest put the culminating touch on the raunchy poetry with her final set. She performed four poems, all of which dealt with descriptions of sex. She performed The Storm, Flashback, Before and After and Just Like That, all of which were taken from her self-published book Hot Sweet Chocolate: A Celebration of Love and Desire. Earlier she had also read a few poems from her soon to be published book Interlude.
Duane Francis also dabbled with the romantic though his set was nowhere as suggestive as those of the other two poets. Several of his pieces took a slightly ironic or merely funny look at romance. Included in this set was Woman Like U, wherein he promises to go bungee jumping without the cord. He also performed Honey Drippa, Blue Dress and Check Me Out.
The night had not only been about sex, however. Earlier, Laughton addressed the power of the word and poetry in Rush, and abuse in Last One Stand.
Forest had also taken her stab at social commentary in poems such as Mama's Lament and The High, both of which looked at the scourge of drugs now plaguing all societies. Francis' contribution to this segment included Road Block and the very witty Justice.
Though the night was quiet, it was certainly enjoyable. The Floyd Folkes band, featuring Floyd and Richard Folkes, helped to keep the mood light and romantic with ballads such as Starry Starry Night and Now and Forever.
