Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer
Yasus Afari - CONTRIBUTED
A NEW poetry session, 'Poetry Mondays', began at Jamaica Vibes, Haining Road, New Kingston, on Monday.
The event will be staged on the first and last Mondays of each month.
The night featured a bag of mainly short performances in which poetry was mixed with singing, some drumming coming in the early going.
Against a backdrop of huge swathes of black, green and gold cloth, with flecks of silver, Yasus Afari gave one of the night's more extended presentations, employing the services of the young female trio The Black Goddesses. He delivered his rhymes in part to recorded tracks, while Jah Shanti and LSX, minus X whose movements were affected by the violence in Spanish Town, used live musicians in the night's other more substantial poetry performances.
NON-POETRY PERFORMERS
Deejay Andy Frost and singers Israel Voice and Benitto were among the non-poetry performers for the night. After the drumming and chanting, History Man stepped up with a suitcase in the open mic section to do Manners and Discipline, following with a piece on HIV in which he asked "if yu know somebody whe HIV positive/it no gi yu right fi treat dem like garbage". The purpose of the suitcase became clear as he whipped out items that represented hurricane supplies on a piece that warned about being prepared.
Osakwe informed forcefully that "money talk ... never cheaply" and followed with 'I am Someone You Love to Love', inspired by Mutabaruka's 'I Am The Man You Love To Hate'. Eddie Karacas did a word change in which a repeated 'democracy' became 'dem a crazy' and 'pornography' became 'poor naa go free'. Charlie Bobbos encouraged "gwaan trod/even though nutten naa gwaan" and Julian was adamant that "we have a b.....c...t army roun' here' in 'Jungle Warfare'.
There was no stated separation between open mic and the night's main performers, but LSX, minus X, Jah Shanti and Yasus Afari came on in succession, unlike the mixture of poetry with mainly singing as previously.
Lynch made the link between X's absence and the violence in Spanish Town over Bulbie's killing, saying "me haffi go a Spain tomorrow/too much pain, too much sorrow ... Me have two side/but me no tek side". With Sage joining him on stage and a drummer providing music, they continued on the old capital with "blood a run inna de Spain like rain/yu not even safe pon de main".
A SWINGING ARM
Putting a swinging arm into his poetry, Sage examined "new galaxies of the sun" and three musicians of From The Deep got going as the two combined on "high fire/life fire/live wire/real desire".
Jah Shanti, taking a measured approach to a guitar and drums, urged "respc' yu woman" and showed no tolerance for the lazy as he commanded "get up my youth an' gwaan go look a work", informing "overnight success don't come overnight". On his final poem, Jah Shanti commented "get yu pay/dem tek it back inna taxes/come back de nex' day/dem want yu X inna dem boxes".
SWEET COLOGNE
Kerry-Ann Brown, standing tall on silver stiletto heels, included a comparison of an ex-partner's cologne, which smells good to his present lover, to "like inhaling a poisonous gas that knocks me senseless".
"Poetry no fi be a figurine. Poetry fi viable," Yasus Afari declared, starting out with 'I-Pen' and continuing with 'The Earth Is a Friend', both done without music. He picked up the pace with the warning "watch where yu putting yu teet people", his feet stomping a rhythm on stage at intervals.
"This is chapter two in my career. Is the first time me a perform in Kingston in a long time," he said, before doing 'Put It Een', his right hand doing the stirring of the imaginary pot. He introduced the singing trio The Black Goddesses, who were encouraged in their first appearance "except inside I an, I living oom" and they stayed on stage with him to do harmony on 'A So De Ting Set'. And they provided movement to 'Sexacise', in which Afari said "every day she get up exercise/night an' day fantasise/how long it a go tek har fe realise/all she need is some sexercise?", to cheers from the audience. He made it clear that "a no some likkle freaky, kinky business".
"Me hear sey man a mek love to man. How love come inna dat?" he demanded.
The stanzas meandered past the midnight hour with the Tuff Tuff Triangle being called to the stage before a vastly diminished audience.
