Memories in June: Rodney and Carter

Assassins of conversation

they bury the voice

they assassinate, in the beloved

grave of the voice, never to be silent.

I sit in the presence of rain

in the sky’s wild noise

of the feet of some who

not only, but also, kill

the origin of rain, the ankle

of the whore, as fastidious

as the great fight, the wife

of water. Risker, risk.

I intend to turn a sky

of tears, for you

                                Martin Carter

During the month of June in Guyana, two things are remembered – the birth of Martin Carter and the assassination of Walter Rodney. The nation’s greatest poet was born on June 7, 1927 and the internationally acclaimed scholar, historian and political leader was assassinated at the height of his most effective period of political activism on