RHYTHM Feet Shuffling, Drums beating. The movement is fast, And the body gyrates While the heart pounds. It is an African rhythm that moves you. The spirit of the drum has captured your soul, And it is this soul that moves you. In time. Always in time. It makes your body jump And your waist […]
Category: Issue 3
The Cat’s Claws (For Basdeo Panday)
Paranoia stalks the land like cat’s claws on a butterfly’s wings. Hush! Words are villains, Thoughts, treason. Actions denote revolution, connote deeds untold. Perception becomes reality in this land where paranoia stalks like cat’s claws on butterfly wings. The sun rises like a red moon from the south. Blistering, cracking, searing, tearing this land into […]
Afro Vision
I don’t want to want a past I never knew. I don’t want to want romance remembered partially true. I don’t want to wish. my lover was a panther sleek, black and strong let the CIA answer why my love wasn’t bulletproof and now my afro works like a sponge to soak up his blood […]
NAH MAN
Scum of the Earth – MAN! Liars, lovers, hurters users, abusers. Use my body to fornicate discard me when I procreate. I’ve said what I have to say… Friend, foe, come and go treat me like a bloody whore. You live behind a masquerade, your life is just a big charade I have nothing more […]
A minute in the life of Jack Saw and other poems
A minute in the life of Jack Saw Zzzzzzzzzzz!! hmmm! zzzzzzzzzzz!! oooooooh! “Okay Jack, get up now.” Death Threat I If you come around me once more I’ll throw you down the cesspit. Death Threat II I hate you so much I can take you to shark island and throw you in. Kelly Bonnett
Restless
We heard the shouting as we walked up the hill. It was a man’s voice. “That is Ashley.” An iron pot came through the window, hit the dirt and sent a semi circle of dust on to the gate. “That is Cricket.” A saucepan landed in the yard. “That is Victor” Another pot. “That is […]
Issue 3
Afro Vision – Vanessa Richards AHHH! Feared – Abena Noel A minute in the life of Jack Saw Death Threat I Death Threat II – Kelly Bonnette NAH MAN – Alicia, Wendy & Alison Restless – Irma Rambaran Rhythm Untold – Alicia Paynter She Buried Him The Cat’s Claws (For Basdeo Panday) – Indra Indira Untitled I Untitled II […]
Of Wings, Nectar, & Ancestors
1 On deep purple-black nights, when the whole house has pushed itself into slumber, WaLiLa flits around her room like a moth. She bounces off the walls & clings to the ceiling. Her energy jumps up & turns cartwheels. It does jumping jacks & jiggles its knees impatiently. Her ears try to give the impression […]
The Lime
Oh fuck, answer the phone Kerry. “Yo, what yuh saying, let’s make an Upper Level, about seven…. Yeah, cool, pick you up soon. Later.” Alright, we on a Friday night lime. Wife in Martinique. What to put on. Look casual, it’s Friday. Levi’s, not the black pants; Wendell shoes. Right. Looking hot. Little Xeris, smelling […]
Fade to Black
You are walking down the dark side of a dimly lit street, cautiously. It’s easy to move here; most of the streetlights don’t work. You know that you are not safe here though. Removing the red bandannas from you wrists and head do not make you feel safer. You are not afraid. You’ve never really […]