LAST WEEK those who turned up for a taping session of the History of Jamaican Poetry CD received a bellyful of poetry to take home with them.
From the established hallmarks such as Mutabaruka, Jean Binta Breeze and Cherry Natural, to the more recent voices such as Jah Children and all those who came between, it was a night of poetry, poetry and more poetry.
Twenty poets gathered in the Derek Scott Studio Theatre at the School of Drama, Arthur Wint Dr., St. Andrew, for the taping and many of them seemed to have the power of poetry on their minds.
As Neto Meeks would chant in his fast flying rhymes, "I've got my perspective, accept it or reject it." The poets delivered their perspectives and through their own lines, the varying uses of poetry were examined.
"Send di poem come," Cherry Natural chanted. As di lyrics dem come write dem down... Give your thoughts permission to scream. She continued to advocate for active poetry, granting them freedom from the page. In her introductory statement, she had declared "Poem affi work y'nuh." Later the poem would ask, Ah weh di poem dem do mek yuh lock it up eena book?
Her next piece, Pickney Poem examined how poetry can be used as a tool for self acceptance.
Jah Children posited that poetry and the urge to write can rescue idle hands from the devil, as the poet can declare "Mi ave betta tings fi do so me fin' pen and paper." Declaring that Procrastination is like Big Ben without a battery, like Cherry Natural they advocated writing.
For many of poets, the word was also seen as an active weapon of dissension, even revolution. Mel Cooke slashed through United States, Iraqi and Afghanistan politics with his poem Word Terrorist. In the poem, Cooke declared himself a "card-carrying member of al Qaeda" who was using his word bombs to spread SARS (Stanzas Against Rumsfeld's Stupidity).
When I done write off dat son of a bush
I mek t'ree paper plane
And tek perfect aim
Through History, Anansi Story, Owen Ellis called to the role of the poet/storyteller as the recorder of history. Calling on the rhythm of a the children's ring game, 'Staga Lee' he declared;
Zim, zim zim
If not me,
Who gwine tell my history?
POWER OF POETRY
Despite all the power of poetry however, as Andrew Miller declared, in In A Line Behind Baugh, Poetry is not a secure profession. We must reject your visa application. Miller's work made reference to Professor Edward Baugh's Nigger Sweat.
Mbala, the one-man orchestra' also delved into the power of words, or rather how we sometimes give up our power to speak. In Quest he pointed to the painful nature of self-imposed voicelessness declaring:
At times I burn my voice with the garbage.
Blue smoke blinds me.
Neto Meeks had also pointed to self-imposed voicelessness, as he referred to people who are 'slowly dying', but are 'afraid to scream'.
The uses of poetry were also illustrated at the taping as the poets also dealt with a variety of issues.
Dingo pulled two of his socially-critical poems from his lyrical arsenal. The first, Not Another Anti-American Poem targeted the Iraqi war. His second piece was closer to home as he targeted the socio-political state of Jamaica.
I woulda cus some claat if it woulda call some attention to Jamaica land we love he declared. The poem goes on to point out that while many in the country are catapulted from strange wombs to suck struggle at the nipple the middle-class are so impotent they could not galvanise zinc.
Cooke also took on the social issues, this time using the National Anthem as his launching pad. The poem re-wrote essential segments of the anthem to reflect the current state of Jamaica. As such it becomes "eternal mother bless our land" to counteract the constant eternal "whappen fadda, bless mi han."
Several other poets tackled a myriad of pieces. The constantly eloquent Tanya Shirley delivered the intriguing Guinep, along with Out of Love and the hilarious piece My Christian Friend.
Adziko Simba gave a wonderful performance of Crazy Lady Day, which called to the need to just let go once in a while to retain sanity the rest of the time. A taste of love was brought through by Andrew Stone and Ann Margaret Lim. Stone delivered Shining One, Dream Girl and the sexy double entendre, The Offer.
Lim delivered Tripping, Delivery Anton and Anton II.
The night had begun over an hour later than the scheduled time, however, at the end, it was an effort that could sate the appetite of any poetry lover.
