Saturday 6 September 2014

The POEM

Making Something out of Nothing

Bits and pieces, that’s what we had –
We could make something out of nothing…
anything anything
out of the bits and pieces.

Making a meal from leftovers, a masquerade from scraps, a musical instrument from an old oil drum.
We Caribbean people embrace Ananci as our natural response –
seeking the power to define … for ourselves.
Ananci, the spider-god who crossed the Atlantic with us from Africa,
creatively weaving tricks, using cunning for survival.
That’s what we’ve done, that’s what we do
that’s what we do
Making something out of nothing.
This kind of art is not about looking pretty or just about making a nice sound.
It’s about the inside coming out
doing it for ourselves, doing it for ourselves.
Empowerment,
claiming ownership
the power to choose to do or not do
to be our own narrator
honoring ourselves

protecting ourselves,
maintaining a self                                        
becoming who I am
becoming who you are

Bits and pieces, that’s what we had –           
We could make something out of nothing…
anything anything
out of the bits and pieces.

grandpa felt the rhythm when they hit him with the whip 
the smile behind the pain
the pain behind the smile
playing fool to catch the wise
layering
masking to reveal
dancing Dame Lorraine
exaggeration grotesque
excess excess excess
mimicking  the elite?
Yes, but so much more
the dance moves from the character to the play
a dance
from the inside from the inside
creating a space within

Bits and pieces, that’s what we had –
We could make something out of nothing…
Anything, anything

out of the bits and pieces.

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