I Been There, Sort Of New and Selected Poems

by Morris, Mervyn

• ISBN13: 9781857548297
• ISBN10: 1857548299
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-08-01
• Publisher: Carcanet Press Ltd.

Summary

"The poems of Mervyn Morris, one of the most resourceful West Indian poets, are economical, witty and humane. Aware at each moment of the processes of writing, Morris makes use of the diverse linguistic resources of his native Jamaica, with poems in international standard English, Jamaican Creole and a range of hybrid idioms. The variations inflect his explorations of love and lust, time and memory, the relationship between private consciousness and commitment to the wider world of history, politics and art. His poems frequently suggest the tension inherent in moments of choice."--BOOK JACKET.

Author Biography

Mervyn Morris was born in Jamaica and studied as a Rhodes Scholar at St. Edmund Hall–Oxford. He is the author of The Pond and Shadowboxing and the editor of The Faber Book of Contemporary Caribbean Short Stories. Winner of a Centenary Medal and a Silver Musgrave Medal for poetry from the Institute of Jamaica, he is currently professor emeritus of creative writing at the University of the West Indies.

Table of Contents

Short story	p. 11
Critic	p. 12
Dialogue for one	p. 12
At a poetry reading	p. 13
Behind the curtain	p. 13
Encounter	p. 14
Proposition one	p. 14
The pledge	p. 15
Autograph album	p. 16
Reunion	p. 16
Tournament	p. 17
Birthdays	p. 18
Eve	p. 18
Connection	p. 19
Parlour game	p. 19
Operation	p. 20
Happy hour	p. 20
Pantomime	p. 21
Moment of truth	p. 21
Interview	p. 22
Persephone	p. 23
Casanova	p. 23
North Coast Hotel	p. 24
Cabal	p. 24
A poet of the people	p. 25
Poetry workshop	p. 26
Advisory	p. 26
Montage	p. 27
Post-colonial identity	p. 27
Peelin orange	p. 28
Oblation	p. 28
Toasting a muse	p. 29
Heritage	p. 29
Muntu	p. 30
Sentences for Heritage Week	p. 30
Having eyes that see	p. 31
Thank-you note	p. 32
Gaffes	p. 32
Boarding school	p. 33
Caning	p. 34
After the movie	p. 34
Tutorial	p. 35
Asylum	p. 36
To tell the truth	p. 36
Counsellor	p. 37
Critique	p. 37
Anniversary proceedings	p. 38
Granny	p. 38
Praise the Lord	p. 39
At church	p. 39
Diptych	p. 40
Au revoir	p. 41
Farewell function	p. 41
Transitions	p. 42
Garden	p. 42
Postcard	p. 43
Epitaph	p. 43
Jamaican dance #2	p. 44
A chant against death	p. 45
A word	p. 46
Prologue by the maker	p. 49
Jesus in Gethsemane	p. 49
A priest	p. 50
Judas	p. 50
Pilate's wife	p. 51
Pilate	p. 52
Peter	p. 54
Soldiers	p. 54
Simon of Cyrene	p. 55
A woman named Mary	p. 56
Jesus on the road	p. 56
Malefactor (left)	p. 57
Malefactor (right)	p. 57
Centurion	p. 57
Mary (mother)	p. 58
John	p. 58
Joseph of Arimathaea	p. 59
Mary Magdalene	p. 59
Thomas	p. 60
Valley prince	p. 63
Stripper	p. 64
To an expatriate friend	p. 64
To the unknown non-combatant	p. 65
The day my father died	p. 66
Outing	p. 67
Little boy crying	p. 67
Shadows	p. 68
The roaches	p. 68
The pond	p. 69
Narcissus	p. 70
Mariners	p. 70
Muse	p. 73
Afro-Saxon	p. 74
For consciousness	p. 75
Cave	p. 76
A voyage	p. 77
Meeting	p. 78
In the garden	p. 79
Togetherness	p. 79
Dreamtime	p. 80
A birthday poem	p. 80
Terminal	p. 81
Checking out	p. 82
Examination centre	p. 85
Love is	p. 86
Peacetime	p. 86
Sister	p. 87
Seen	p. 88
There was a young poet	p. 88
Data	p. 89
My Rodney poem	p. 90
Windscreen	p. 91
Legion	p. 91
Walk good	p. 92
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