Marley's Ghost

Ruddy bauxite brow

scoured scarp

of dark end

rocks top the Blue

Mahoe hillock

the hard scrabble of dirt labor

sun bent hunger

mouths more

plentiful than spoons

Give me the food and let me grow

Let the Roots Man take a blow

the stone dry-

lands shadow

mystical road

sharp sadness of

a prophet departed

Burning pollution illusion

Ken e Bujold

© 2022

Author's Note

another of suite "Islands in the Sun"
italics are from Bob Marley's "Burnin and Lootin"

Reviews

[softlyfall]

Marley was buried with his guitar. It was part of him. You know, now that I think of it, I miss the physical connection of writing with my favorite pen.
I love Bob Marley's music, love innovation and fusion of arts and he was unique. I remember my kids were all about ska at one point, and that was part of his magic. My father loved the Heptones and most rocksteady (a break from cool jazz, west coast jazz). You can hear all of that but the whole is unique.
You must be a huge fan to write with such loving respect of him.
All that being said, the poem is so good. All of the excess has been eliminated. What is left is enough to invoke vivid images but still leave the back door open. It gives the reader wiggle room. To me it seems like each and every word is carefully chosen and precise.

[Ken e Bujold]

marley is an artist i much admire. the poem is about memory of trip to Jam. a bauxite mine just outside of kingston has torn the whole side of hill wide open. cant blame the men working, they need to feed families, but mem always stuck with me. My islands in the sun suite is as much about memory and the observer/interloper views of the indigenous as anything. glad you enjoyed the read.
and yes every word was precisely chosen, the bare bones construction meant to invoke the bare bones landscape it writes of

[softlyfall]

That is very very cool. Amazing, really. If I'm honest, I can hear my poems just right in my head but my line breaks are sometimes just a close-my-eyes and point kind of guess. I am going to try to emulate you and be more aware of the structure of my poems because it totally empowers the poem.

[Ken e Bujold]

one of the most important aspects of good free verse which too many inexperienced poets overlook, or never learn, is the training of the ear to eye. line breaks are an essential construction of any poem, it is where the poet stresses to the reader what needs to considered in what order. how you place them is essential, and i can't stress that point to much

[softlyfall]

Thank you and please do correct me if you see mistakes

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Marley was a pretty damn good philosopher and poet. One can't go wrong with absorbing his art into their souls. His songs are a force of nature that calms an angered heart. CLE