I is a long memoried woman

From dih pout of mih mouth from dih treacherous calm of mih smile you can tell

I is a long memoried woman -Grace Nichols

Nanny

Ashanti Priestess and giver of charms earth substance woman of science and black fire magic

Maroonic woman of courage and blue mountain rises

Standing over the valleys dressed in purple robes bracelets of the enemy’s teeth curled around your ankles in rings of ivory bone

And your voice giving sound to the Abeng its death cry chilling the mountainside which you inhabit like a strong pursuing eagle

As you watch the hissing foaming cauldron spelling strategies for the red oppressors’ blood willing them to come mouthing a new beginning song is that you Nanny – Is that you Nanny? -Grace Nichols

But there were other ships

But there were other ships rocked by dreams and fears and promise

Rolling with new arrivals across Atlantic.

From the fields of Bengal and Uttar Pradesh,

From Kowloon and Canton.

From Madeira and Ireland – Their indentured mudstained feet, soon embroidered like the slave’s instep to the fields. Their songs of exile their drums of loss all caught in a weaving odyssey of no return.

No waiting Penelope unpicking all her work.

-Grace Nichols

Last Wednesday, January 12, Guyana observed Chinese Arrival Day. It was the anniversary of the arrival of indentured labourers from China to British Guiana.