after Francis Thompson: a glosa
“at the turning of the year// in sight of 70, anticipating retreat/ I know the Kingdom’s door will swing//to receive me soon some new year morning…”
Poem of the Week (January 18), by John Robert Lee.
John Robert Lee is a writer of prose, poetry, journalism; a librarian; and a former radio and television broadcaster. His latest publications are ‘elemental: new and selected poems, 1975-2007’ ( Peepal Tree Press, 2008), ‘Sighting and other poems of faith’ (Mahanaim, 2013) and ‘Bibliography of St. Lucian Creative writing: 1948-2013’ (Mahanaim, 2013). His bibliography of Caribbean literature is available here.
Spotlight Artist: Shallon Fadlien
“Being a woman, I think that feminism cannot be divorced from my art.”
John Robert Lee interviews Shallon Fadlien.
Letter (after Dionne Brand)
“exhausting, these post-modern certainties/ no truth, no meaning, no author/ no beauty I suppose in the old songs of remembering…”
Poem of the Week (September 7), by John Robert Lee.
Sketches and Canticles of Lent (after Shallon Fadlien)
“We know the triumphant end of that old scenario:/ disembowelled shroud, vacant catacomb…” Three poems to mark Easter Sunday, by John Robert Lee.
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from ‘Intimations’
“…this one book I have been writing/ in canticles kwéyòl/ dancing lines of lakonmèt and weedova/ their violons and chak-chak in my ear…” Poem of the Week (January 13), by John Robert Lee.
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For Kamau Brathwaite at 85
“From islands’ scorned syllables/ your horn lifted nations’ new tongues/ Castries to Kingston…”By John Robert Lee, celebrating Kamau Brathwaite’s 85th birthday.
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Kamau: A tribute from St. Lucia
An introduction to a series of poems, essays and paintings in celebration of Kamau Brathwaite’s 85th birthday.
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in caravaggio’s ikon
“Thomas,/ Apostle to our secular, mocking, murderous/ new age…” Weekend poem for Easter Sunday, by John Robert Lee.
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Incarnation
“Out of the creeping undergrowth of manuscripts/ words line themselves with the body of the page/ imaculately…” Poem of the Week (January 6), by John Robert Lee.
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What is poetry?
St. Lucian poet John Robert Lee asks the ‘What is Poetry?’ question, reaching the conclusion that every poem needs to contain truth, beauty and harmony.
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