Friday, April 11, 2008

Nichol by Kwame Dawes

Nichol, by Jamaican poet Kwame Dawes, is part of a series Dawes wrote about his home country's battle against HIV/AIDS. The Pulitzer Center has put together a terrific website on the issue, using Dawes' poems a launching point. Check it out here.

Nichol

How coolly it has broken you,
trying to mask the knowing
wit behind your eyes—

every smile, brilliant
against your gleaming
black skin, is defiance.

You stammer, push out
words; tell your story;
slap your knees to show

where your stroke frozen
body would crawl
across the concrete

to reach the yard,
with the gawking
on-lookers. You laugh

“Man must live.
Man must live.”
How casually broken.

Tall lanky man,
hands clawed, yams
dangling, and the sweet

club mans charm
in your grin, still all those
women slain by your art.

You stretch out your legs,
tell your story slow,
persistent as the crawl

you made towards sunlight,
the way you pulled
your body upright,

the way you made tender
the toughness of hard men
who would soon wash you,

feed you with oily fingers
full of mashed ackee
and tomatoes, who have

held you against
the night, men, tough
as teeth, hard men.

"Man must live.
Man must live."
The virus stalks

through your blood,
manages to tickle,
make you laugh

at a new sunny day--
and yours is the posture
of survival.


Kwame Dawes was born in Ghana and raised in Kingston Jamaica. He currently teaches English and is the Poet in Residence at the University of South Carolina.

78 Comments:

Blogger Jeb said...

interesting :)

1:56 PM  
Blogger Mimi said...

Kwame, I want more!!

3:02 PM  
Blogger LoLowe said...

I was looking at your blog and this was very interesting. I'll probably stop by to read some more. Poetry is one thing I love without question. Cool blog :]

~Lorna.

6:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That was a nice poem bro..=)

10:49 PM  
Blogger Jon said...

what a novel idea for a site... i'm gonna keep an eye out here... was wondering if you'd like to participate in a poetry game that's running... cricket...

10:59 PM  
Blogger quirkyblues said...

hmmmmmm. yes interesting

11:24 PM  
Blogger Gasent said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

12:40 AM  
Blogger Gasent said...

You know, that's a new view to having HIV/AIDS. After reading the poem, I wondered if people in America have similar thinking to the one described in the poem.
My Site

12:42 AM  
Blogger Self said...

Wow. Great poem! I will be visiting more often. I love to read poetry.

12:51 AM  
Blogger Raffy Jay said...

Must love poetry!

3:15 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great poem

5:15 AM  
Blogger ladyinpurple said...

A different kind of blog. I love literary works... i like it ;)

10:06 AM  
Blogger Sally O'Grady said...

Just came upon your blog... Love love love it!! Thank you, looking forward to more!

11:04 AM  
Blogger Chuck's Exploding Head! said...

The soul of a being never dies
So truly there are no goodbyes
They move on along
But never are gone
Just viewing through eternal eyes

In some other plain they exist
And on Earth they sorely are missed
Yet theyre in a place
We all soon will face
When Death comes to blow us a kiss

So keep all your ducks in a row
Treat well all the people you know
And when your day comes
You wont be the one
Who goes to the place down below

Youll go to that place up above
The one that youve heard so much of
To be in Gods grace
Is a wonderful place
For eternal salvation and love

12:16 PM  
Blogger reign in violence said...

nice poem...i write poems too check it out...

1:36 PM  
Blogger ColdSoreSuperstar said...

Effective. I especially enjoy the inclusion of the food items. Yams, ackee. Nice imagery.

1:44 PM  
Blogger disabled account said...

i love this blog...it's as though you're performing a public service.

thank you...

1:20 AM  
Blogger Zahhar said...

The voice and manner are prosaic, chopped into enjambed tercets, hacked into enjambed lines. Makes for a tough read.

This, to my mind, would be an example of the academic institutionalization of a creative mind full of unique viewpoints.

A better vehicle for this would have been prose vignette. Tercets are... Something sacred. And not easily mastered.

9:48 AM  
Blogger Melodieann Whiteley said...

Love your blog. Poetry is a passion of mine (reading not writing). My dad was a gifted poet but I think the poetry writing gene skipped me. I glad to have found a place where I can go to read what so many others have written.

3:14 PM  
Blogger daubmir said...

This, indeed...

Poetry lets us touch the impalpable.

Bravo!

4:35 PM  
Blogger JD said...

Not usually big into poetry, but that really got me thinking. Good stuff!

5:22 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

brilliant, just amazing...

6:30 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Wow..I just love poetry.

7:04 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

stunning and poignant. Profound and convicting. I especially liked "the way you made tender the toughness of hard men who would soon feed you"

8:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Reading this poem inspired me for this haiku:

El pedo
es un viento muy ligero
que al salir por el agujero
va anunciando la llegada
de una tremenda cagada.

9:41 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Very good poetry

I liked it a lot
=]

10:51 PM  
Blogger Anonymous1 said...

I would like to see some haikus.
575.

11:07 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Does the poet sometimes feel tempted to take something like this piece and make it bigger? I mean, how does he know when to round it off?

12:37 AM  
Blogger kriskahn21 said...

Very, very beautiful! It transports me to another place of mind

3:51 AM  
Blogger milzam sutisna said...

...
Hi! I am a student from Indonesia.
I like poem, but in Indonesia language.
Can you translate your poem in Indonesia?
I hope you can.
Can I become your friend? It will be great.
Bye...!

4:16 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

very nice..

greets from indonesia

7:02 AM  
Blogger Jaquanda Rae said...

Hi, wondering if you're not concerned about copyright issues. I wrote a poem quoting someone and got a stern warning...are you seeking permission?

12:14 PM  
Blogger Siavash G. said...

I don not know if you Sohrab Sepehri or not. If not, just tell me I'll find his poems in English and post you. He is one of the greatest poets.

12:56 PM  
Blogger The Patriot said...

Someone right a poem about how the world is going to hell while Hilary Clinton is getting drunk on Crown Royal... see my blog for pictues of a cross eyed drunk Hilary.

1:57 PM  
Blogger Justin J said...

That's actually pretty amazing. I wonder if it's being considered for a Pulitzer?

3:04 PM  
Blogger Opinonsmatter said...

You have a gift for words young man. Very few people can convey such feeling. I'll stay tuned.

5:46 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Very good. It could actually be musicated and become some high class bossa nova, according to me.
I'll keep watch.
Best regards
Nik

5:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hi my friend
my name is ehsan & im from iran
ur weblog is very intresting & im one of its readers!
i saw that u have written about rumi! very nice!
there is another poet in iran that i like him alot & im on of his fans!
his name is shahyar ghanbari!
Shahyar Ghanbari is one of the most sophisticated deep spoken poet/lyricists and Artists of Iran in exile!
whereas there is lack of freedom in iran he has some poems & lyrics about freedom!
i decide to send you one of his lyrics! please tell me what do you think about it!
thank you!

6:24 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Forbidden Poetry
Shahyar Ghanbari


Forbidden

Blue of the sea is forbidden
The desire to see, is forbidden
The love between two fish is forbidden
Alone and together is forbidden

To have a new love, you should not ask permission
To have a new love, you should not ask permission

Whispering and murmuring is forbidden
Dancing of the shadows is forbidden
Discovering the stolen kisses,
In the middle of your dream is forbidden

To have a new dream, you should not ask permission
To have a new dream, you should not ask permission

In this homely exile
Write the simplest poems
Say what you have to say
Say long live life,
Say long live life

To write a new poem, you should not ask permission
To write a new poem, you should not ask permission

To write about you, is forbidden
Even to complain is forbidden
The fragrance of a woman, is forbidden
You are forbidden, I am forbidden!

To start a new day, you should not ask permission
To start a new day, you should not ask permission

* * *

6:26 PM  
Blogger vinecrawler said...

So incredibly beautiful. Thank you.

6:30 PM  
Blogger Food, she thought. said...

this poem makes me think of the journey a person with AIDS makes...i used to care for an AIDS patient and this poem brought back memories, both good and difficult.

thank you.

9:31 PM  
Blogger vettech said...

Phenomenal poem. Lucky I live in SC. Perhaps I can go meet him one day.

10:22 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Amazing poem indeed!

Peace

12:06 AM  
Blogger Alpha said...

Very well written Kwame!
Keep up the good work.
I am in California and know a Dawes family rom Jamaica that live here, probably related to you?? Small world!

12:26 AM  
Blogger Nguyen Van Phuc said...

So good!

11:37 AM  
Blogger dylan_is_a_g said...

yaaarrrrr scurvy

11:39 AM  
Blogger Brandon said...

I love poetry at times when there's nothing to do lol.
how does a blog get soo many hits like this :O

4:06 PM  
Blogger Boutique Mix Fashion said...

Love it!!!!

5:16 PM  
Blogger Devi said...

it almost made me want 2 cry!!!

8:39 PM  
Blogger Atiya Walker-Dykes said...

Beautiful and Eloquent.

9:23 PM  
Blogger World Travel said...

nice info! please visit http://88worldtravel.blogspot.com

12:17 AM  
Blogger Admin said...

Great Poem, I like your blog.

2:58 AM  
Blogger smileawhile said...

hi,
the bottomline says it all.
survival strikes, lest we fall:)

3:53 AM  
Blogger Recomenzar said...

I was looking at your blog and this was very interesting. I'll probably stop by to read some more.
You can use the translator in my blog to reed my blog.

7:38 AM  
Blogger Tapas Bandyopadhyaya said...

Look what I found! A woonderful site for poetry. I've seen some and most are apologies for poetry. Yours is good. I wonder where you source the materials. And this poem is good too! I shall certainly be visiting your site and may be make friends with poets who visit your site, starting with you?

Thank you for the site and all the best.

8:05 AM  
Blogger Izabela said...

Nice... Keep on doing like hat. Check my place... Kiss to you all...

11:15 AM  
Blogger Scott De Buitléir said...

Excellant - I'm very happy to have come across such quality of a blog!

12:03 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Did you know that Kwame Dawes conducts regular visits to schools to make presentations, tell stories, and work with teachers, students and administrators in various areas. He has made such school visits all across the US and abroad. His visits have ranged from large auditorium presentations, to classroom visits, guest lectureships, to teacher professional development training. He has also taught writing at special Gifted Camps for elementary, middle school and high school students.

thanks,
http://www.lingerieissexy.com

4:13 PM  
Blogger Jesse Martinez said...

Tiger,

I enloyed reading that poem. It's great that you do this sort of thing because it provides me something good to read on a daily basis. I have a blog of my own and would appreciate it if you could take a glance at it and tell me what you think about it. I have been trying to get readers but I have been unsuccesful. Pleas take a look at it. Anyways, thank you for that fantastic poem!!

My blog is named Under All the Shards.

5:03 PM  
Blogger Crys said...

Thank you for taking the time to post every week. I turn each poem over in my mind while working outside.

I think most people who say they are turned off by poetry say so because they only remember the old 'thee' and 'thou'.

In a time when more people need to be encouraged to read, but don't feel they have the time to sit down with a book, blogs like these fill the mind with ideas and people to think about, and hopefully, urge forward faithful readers.

Thanks again.

7:23 PM  
Blogger jass said...

Really nice one, i love poetry and i think u got nice collection. Keep it up...!

9:44 PM  
Blogger Billy Blogger said...

Interesting poem.....take a look at my blog http://thiscouldbeanyblogintheworld.blogspot.com/

I just recently began to post some poems that I have found that I wrote in my highschool days..

Billy Blogger

8:26 AM  
Blogger Neil said...

I really liked the poem...you must continue the same work!!!

All The best!!

4:05 PM  
Blogger Me said...

Hi! Great poem, I loved it.
I love poetry, and I write some myself:] I have just started a new blog, and I planned to include some poetry in it. I have only one real post right now, and it's a poem, but once I get a few more visitors, I'll start to really post my writing and such.
Great idea for a blog, btw, i love it.
-Meta
http://www.thetitledmeta.blogspot.com/

9:15 PM  
Blogger Moonstruck Girl said...

Very interesting blog :) This poem was particularly touching.. I will be sure to visit your blog often :)

Cheers,
Me

6:31 AM  
Blogger Lost Butterfly said...

i never care about HIV and its victims, but... your poem makes me stop and think for a while.

Your poem is nice!

7:38 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

WOW! You really can't say much more. Poetry being used as a form of getting people's stories out making them visible is wonderful Art at it's finest.

Pam
A beginner!

10:28 PM  
Blogger Barefoot in Blue said...

From one Ghanaian to another...

Thank you.

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