(For Lorna Goodison)
“Let me give you a story,” said my mother.
In her parlour of cloths and patterns,
where women gathered like penitent moths,
she fitted her sisters for christenings and funerals.
In her parlour of cloths and patterns,
my mother sang hymns from her childhood,
and fitted her sisters for christenings and funerals,
the threads that held their lives together
My mother sang hymns from her childhood,
while her sisters hummed the chorus under their breaths,
the threads that held their lives together,
that she blessed into a quilt of psalms and prayers
Her sisters hummed the chorus under their breaths,
with secrets that smothered their joy,
which she blessed into a quilt of psalms and prayers,
and lightened their burden for the journey ahead.
“Let me give you a story,” said my mother.
READ MORE
Lorna Goodison, Jamaica Poet Laureate, awarded Yale Windham-Campbell Prize [The New York Carib News]
Four Poems by Lorna Goodison [Bomb Magazine]
Born in Jamaica, Geoffrey Philp is the author of the novel, Garvey’s Ghost and a collection of poems, Hurricane Center. His work has been published in the Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories and the Oxford Book of Caribbean Verse. A graduate of the University of Miami, Geoffrey teaches English and creative writing at Miami Dade College.
