Carib's Leap Selected and New Poems of the Caribbean

by Lieberman, Laurence

• ISBN13: 9781845230227
• ISBN10: 1845230221
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-11-01
• Publisher: Peepal Tree Press Ltd.

Summary

Based on travels through the Caribbean Sea, its islands, and parts of the South American mainland, these poems acknowledge the damage wrought to Caribbean peoples, landscapes, and cultures by invaders of all kindsfrom conquistadors to sex tourists. Caribbean references bring out the creativity of the region's peoples in dramatic and personable tones, making this fine poetry a valuable addition to the growing body of literary travel writing about the Caribbean.

Author Biography

Laurence Lieberman is Professor of English at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is Poetry Editor at the University of Illinois Press. He has published numerous collections of poetry and has been published in many poetry and literary magazines. He lives in Urbana, Illinois.

Table of Contents

Sea Poems
Transvestite	13	(2)
Skin Song	15	(2)
The Diving Ballet	17	(2)
Lobsters in the Brain Coral	19	(3)
Tarpon	22	(2)
Flying Below Sea Level	24	(3)
The Spearing	27	(4)
Grenada and Montserrat
Carib's Leap	31	(4)
Shirma: Witness From Carriacou	35	(5)
Smuggled Pencil Stubs	40	(4)
Epidermal Hell	44	(2)
Saviour of Assassins	46	(2)
Sleuths	48	(3)
Robbing the Queenies	51	(5)
House Walk Over the Mountain	56	(2)
Stubby Carrot	58	(4)
Island Trashfires	62	(5)
The Dominican Republic and Haiti
The Banana Dwarf	67	(3)
Dominican Shoe Tinkers	70	(4)
Eros at the World Kite Pageant	74	(12)
Dust Angels	86	(4)
The Creole Mephistopheles	90	(11)
Surinam and Guyana
The Chinese Gambling House	101	(4)
Undying Loyalty	105	(2)
A Gift of Tusks	107	(6)
Massikuriman: the River Demons	113	(6)
Work Chants of the Diamond Miner
Of Fangs, Swipes From the Earth & Air	119	(4)
The Lovesick Miner	123	(3)
The Diamond Miner and the Mermaid	126	(5)
Ether	131	(2)
Wide Skull, Puffy Jowls	133	(2)
Love Nips of the Boa	135	(2)
Wolf of the Skies	137	(6)
St. Lucia and Barbados
Queen of the Billiards	143	(3)
The Banana Madonna	146	(3)
The Mural of Wakeful Sleep	149	(13)
Woman's Tongue	162	(7)
St. Eustatius, Aruba and Bonaire
Dark Songs: Slave House and Synagogue	169	(9)
Cactus Love	178	(8)
Bonaire Sextet	186	(3)
Spine	189	(2)
Wild Donkey	191	(2)
The Origin of Stars	193	(3)
Compass of the Dying	196	(7)
St. Maarten, St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Epitaph to a Watering Hole	203	(3)
Lament for the Lady Felons	206	(5)
Bitter Faith: Song of the Leper's Chef	211	(9)
The Electrifier	220	(1)
Hardhat Limbo	221	(1)
Moon Hole	222	(3)
Across the Starlit Dusk	225	(4)
New Poems: Carriacou, etc.
Song for the Stone Face	229	(4)
Dream Feuds	233	(3)
Wing Bones of the Child Drummer	236	(4)
A Hemiplegic's Romance	240	(3)
Wish List of the Dancing Ghost	243	(8)
Stick Jousts & Soliloquies	251	(3)
The Saviour Bone	254	(2)
Math Sums & Stout	256	(1)
White Shadow, Yank Hitcher	257	(4)
Homemade Power and Light	261