On The Island of Montserrat, We Listened to Poetry
Michael H. Brownstein
Poems sprinkle out from the spice canister
High yellow vowels, sand scarred s’s,
Antigua blue cocktail beaches, Montserrat
Black rivers of ash, small consonants
And heavy wet k’s with clicks and slides.
The sounds gather round the bonfires
And the dancers, the drummers, the singers,
The storytellers and women of poetry.
Trade winds lift the soft vowels
And thick consonants high into the air.
Words form into imagery and breath,
Into word tones, natural rhythms, themes
Of courage and love, joy and hope,
Greatness and happiness, beaches of beauty.
In 1995, the Soufrière Hills volcano on the Caribbean island of Montserrat began to erupt for the first time in the 20th century. Huge clouds of ash and pyroclastic flows covered much of the island, including the capital, Plymouth. By the year 2000, most of the island's population had been forced to flee.
Poetry Atlas also has many poems about other Caribbean islands such as Jamaica, Cuba and The Bahamas.
