Whither Guyanese poetry?
pas de deux + UN
Breathe
Stretch
Contract
Tips’ tingle as limbs
Imitate the struggle
From within
Hands meet as Hearts Tremble, ever-evolving
Our pairing
Minds reach as bodies
Open beyond limits
We move
Swept, we tremble as energies mingle Our life extended
From within
- Ayanna Waddell
mask
Keon Haywood countenance set calm sits beneath still. I reflect unmoved surface stoic. fixed.
YET… darts pierce eyes frozen reflect lines unchanged conceal broken pain joy, laughter, silent refrain forever hidden lies truth
YOU, restrained. countenance: calm sits beneath. Outside unmoved… I rest stoic, unchanging.
- Ayanna Waddell
In exchange for your energy
It’s a curse
The thing that takes so much You give and give
And receive too:
Stress
Frustration
Tears
Chicken feed: unloved unworthy incompetent
Questioning:
Your desires
Your sanity
Your worth
Fighting:
For life
Forces seen
Unseen
Longing:
Restoration
Time
Life
Journey:
You do
You’re done
You die
You accept bouquets with a smile, You’ve made it
You’ve survived
Well done servant.
- Keon Heywood
Rhythm of the Dead
bailar bailar bailar
Bailo al ritmo de los muertos
Bailo al ritmo de los muertos
Bailo al ritmo de los muertos I dance… (ritmo)
I dance to the rhythm of the dead My bones, they rattle
My skeleton, it shakes
Clicking to the ritmo my soul intakes Heels clatter, toes pike
Arms swing up into the night Relève`, battement, flip then hips Shoulders rolled back
Sway sway sway
Glide to the floor into forward roll Split to the side, rotate, then jive A staccato beat
Drumming my feet
Feel the rhythm, follow the vision Dance…dance…bailar bailar
Dance to the rhythm…
Bailo al ritmo de los muertos
I dance to the rhythm of the dead…
- Sonia Yarde
KNews Reaction
Plop! Plop!
Morning news get drop
Feet shuffling,
Door opening, back bending
Door closing
Shrups …
Damn idiot politicians!
Scamming the nation
Chair creaking
Ughm…
Deep breathing
Pages turning,
What the hell?!
She poison sheself and the children Poor angels
Lord help us…
Agh …
Deep breathing
Another robbery
This time the owners shoot he
But he was a ‘good boy’
Ha …
Woman kill spouse?!
Well is about time!
One of them finally fight back
Eww a gruesome attack
She brutal
Hey, this too much
Need to stick to de sports…
- Carlene Gill-Kerr
What is Guyanese poetry in 2022? The nation’s poetry is, of course, long established with outstanding achievements and a recognised place in world literature. This international recognition was celebrated as recently as December 2021, when Guyanese-born poet and novelist resident in London, Grace Nichols, was awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for excellence in poetry. Significantly, that same honour was bestowed on her husband, Guyanese-born poet John Agard in the year 2012.
Those are just indications of the hallowed place of our literature internationally. But what does Guyanese poetry look and sound like at home? What is the state of it, and are there any new voices? As has been the case for decades, it is predominantly represented by the variety of poets practicing overseas. Those resident in Guyana have not been able to make such a resounding impact. Ian McDonald remains a persistent beacon with a prolific output in publications. Yet there are glimmers on the horizon, and those such as Gentian Miller and Paloma Mohamed are joined by a ray of promising new aspirants who include Subraj Singh and Gabrielle Mohamed.
A good place to look for emergent national poets and new Guyanese poetry at home is the Diploma Programme in Creative Writing offered by the National School of Theatre Arts and Drama (NSTAD) in Guyana. While the COVID-19 pandemic crippled work on stage, that very period produced a significant set of fledgling writers. The National Drama Company (NDC) has the distinction of having members who are poets recently successful in the NSTAD Diploma programme. Subraj Singh is one of them (2018), and he was joined by three others who completed the course in 2021.
A sample of their work is presented here. Ayanna Waddell, a Communications graduate of the University of Guyana, is an executive member of the NDC; a stage manager, actress, playwright and tutor at NSTAD. She completed the Creative Writing Diploma in 2017, and went on to study poetry and fiction in 2020/2021.
Sonia Yarde is a member of the NDC; a prize-winning actress, playwright, and director; a stage manager, producer, drama teacher and technical consultant. She completed the Diploma in Creative Writing in 2021.
Keon Heywood is a trained teacher and NDC member; a prize-winning actor, a dancer and spoken word poet. He was successful in the Creative Writing Diploma in 2021.
Carlene Gill-Kerr is a current student in the NSTAD Creative Writing class. She is a spoken word performance poet with published collections and a producer in theatre.
The poetry reflected here is a sample of new work and an indication of the state of contemporary Guyanese poetry at home in 2022. It is modernistic and sometimes postmodern. There is a bold, courageous freshness in this work by poets who are prepared to take risks with the craft and experiment with form.
Waddell, who has won prizes as a playwright, is also the holder of a Diploma in Drama (2014). Her poetic voice is particularly novel and radical. Apart from being postmodern, she exhibits a tendency into existentialism. Her personae in “pas de deux + UN”, and in “mask”, exhibit an uncertainty of identity, or a consciousness that reaches out beyond self into an awareness of oneness with “other” which makes her express an identity of “her/him/it /we” and “them”. Pas de deux is the French term used for a choreography for two dancers, yet Waddell’s dance is “+ UN”, again exploiting the French, meaning “plus one”; and note that the one is capitalised – “UN”. The “we” in the poem includes a mysterious third dancer, person or consciousness. The first person narrator in “mask” suddenly becomes “you” in the penultimate stanza, but wears a mask and remains “stoic” – an unchanging expression that gives away no emotion.
Yarde, who is also the holder of a Diploma in Drama (2014), is postmodern as well, with a preoccupation for probing into the darkness of human existence. She has an interest in the grotesque as she explores the depth of the dance, which becomes a somewhat Gothic danse macabre. In the poem “Rhythm of the Dead,” she turns to expressions in Spanish to conjure up ancient Hispanic ritual and rhythm. Yet the poem is steeped in dance, movement and rhythm. There is an abundance of references to technical dance terminology and a strong sense of movement and rhythm in the structure of the verses.
Heywood has a Diploma in Drama (2014) and a keen interest in social realism in his poetry, a preoccupation evident in his work as a spoken word performance poet. His clear expression as a lyricist is evident in the poem “In return for your energy”, which is written to workers, to the national labour force on the occasion of Labour Day. It is ironic and has a touch of Marxism. The persona complains about the injustice meted out to the working class on a day that should be dedicated to their honour, but they accept mere “bouquets with a smile” as if all they get is the ironic “well done servant”.
Gill-Kerr’s “KNews Reaction” is another reading into the social situation by the people. The poem is also the work of a spoken word performer in the form of social realism. There is a running choric commentary on the issues in the news, which is a litany of ills such as domestic violence and suicide. There is a good deal of irony in the discourse, which would include some wit and even humour were it not so gruesome.
The verses printed here speak volumes for contemporary Guyanese poetry produced by new writers. At the dawn of 2022 we see the breaking light of national poetry with a social conscience and a willingness to tackle the difficult untrammeled paths of modern verse craft.