The Sea Needs No Ornament/ El mar no necesita ornamento is the first bilingual anthology of contemporary poetry by women writers of the English and Spanish-speaking Caribbean and its diasporas to be curated in more than two decades. The anthology presents a selection of work by poets from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and from various Anglophone Caribbean islands and the Diaspora. Each poem is presented first in the original, followed by the translation. Excitingly, the majority of poets have not yet been widely translated or included in a bilingual anthology of this scope.

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Yes, you can access The Sea Needs No Ornament by Loretta Collins Klobah, Maria Grau Perejoan, Loretta Collins Klobah, Maria Grau Perejoan in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & Poetry. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher

Peepal Tree Press

Year

2020

ISBN

9781845234744

Topic

Literature

Subtopic

Poetry

Index

Literature

Marion Bethel

SUNDAY IN FORT CHARLOTTE

why on earth in heaven’s name

would paradise need a fort?

I didn’t know then of slave-trading forts

in Gorée Gold Coast & Gambia

hell holes and grottos blasted in rock

growing up in Fort Charlotte

a colonial coloured christian child

I was Columbus’ girl all the way

sailing with him from Canary Islands

to Guanahani every night on the Nina

I learned forts on earth were for bonfires

of a straw terrorist Guy Fawkes

protection from pillage piracy and plunder

crisped celebrations of royal family visits

& flying kites where angels dwelled

after a uniform week of red & white tan & brown

green & grey blue & white walking to school

after Saturday’s salt-parched skin on Long Wharf

& sand-filled hair were washed & greased

wooden go-karts & bicycle rims defied death

the handsaw wheezed to a stop & sawdust settled

Mr. Dan stopped bruising his missus

fisherman parked his bicycle

policyman tucked his book on the shelf

the numbers runner put on his Sunday shoes

leading the charge Fr. Holmes a jolly good chap

marched us the Bahamian grenadiers

up & down the church aisles singing

We are soldiers of Christ who is mighty to save

would our saviour ever come?

during the march the most irreverent of prayers

Bonny Read & me firing cannons for heaven

before church ended & rescued us from itself

we sang Hold the fort for I am coming!

the only pirate in sight was holy father himself

later we fluttered & flapped

over Fort Charlotte

high as kites on tails of cotton

gliding with gods dressed in gingham

why on earth for heaven’s sake

would Eden need a fort?

Marion Bethel

DOMINGO EN EL FUERTE CHARLOTTE

¿a santo de qué en el nombre del cielo

podría el paraíso necesitar un fuerte?

entonces no sabía de los fuertes de la trata de esclavos

en Gorée Costa de Oro y Gambia

hoyos infernales y grutas detonados en la roca

al crecer en Fuerte Charlotte

una prieta colonizada cristiana

era completamente la chica de Colón

navegando con él cada noche en la Niña

desde las Islas Canarias hasta Guanahani

aprendí que los fuertes en la tierra eran para hogueras

de Guy Fawkes un terrorista hecho de paja

protección del pillaje la piratería y el saqueo

celebraciones almidonadas de visitas de la familia real

y volar cometas donde moraban ángeles

después de una semana caminando a la escuela de uniforme rojo y blanco

caqui y marrón verde y gris azulado y blanco

después de un sábado de piel reseca de sal...

Cover Page
Title Page
Contents
Introduction
Gloriann Sacha Antonetty Lebrón
Marion Bethel
Jacqueline Bishop
Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné
Malika Booker
Vahni Capildeo
Nicole Cecilia Delgado
Thaís Espaillat
Sonia Farmer
Gelsys García Lorenzo
Millicent A. A. Graham
Zulema Gutiérrez Lozano
Khadijah Ibrahiim
Yaissa Jiménez
Cindy Jiménez-Vera
Ann-Margaret Lim
Hannah Lowe
Canisia Lubrin
Shara McCallum
Jamila Medina Ríos
Monica Minott
Mara Pastor
Esther Phillips
Jennifer Rahim
Shivanee Ramlochan
Legna Rodríguez Iglesias
Tanya Shirley
Safiya Sinclair
Dorothea Smartt
Karol Starocean
Ariadna Vásquez Germán
Donna Aza Weir-Soley
Tiphanie Yanique
Notes and Glossary
Notas y Glosario
Contributors
About the Editors and Translators
Permissions
Copyright