pas de deux + UN 
Breathe
Stretch
Contract
Tips’ tingle
as limbs
Imitate the struggle
From within
Hands meet
as Hearts Tremble, ever-evolving
Our pairing
Minds reach
as bodies
Open beyond limits
We move
Swept, we tremble as energies mingle Our life
extended
From within
– Ayanna Waddell
mask
countenance set
calm sits beneath still. I reflect unmoved surface
stoic. fixed.
YET…
darts pierce
eyes frozen
reflect
lines unchanged
conceal broken pain
joy, laughter, silent refrain
forever hidden
lies
truth
YOU, restrained.
countenance: calm sits beneath. Outside
unmoved… I rest stoic, unchanging.
– Ayanna Waddell
In exchange for your energy
It’s a curse
The thing that takes so much
You give and give
And receive too:
Stress
Frustration
Tears
Chicken feed:
unloved
unworthy
incompetent
Questioning:
Your desires
Your sanity
Your worth
Fighting:
For life
Forces seen
Unseen
Longing:
Restoration
Time
Life
Journey:
You do
You’re done
You die
You accept bouquets with a smile,
You’ve made it
You’ve survived
Well done servant.
– Keon Heywood
Rhythm of the Dead
bailar
bailar
bailar
Bailo al ritmo de los muertos
Bailo al ritmo de los muertos
Bailo al ritmo de los muertos
I dance… (ritmo)
I dance to the rhythm of the dead
My bones, they rattle
My skeleton, it shakes
Clicking to the ritmo my soul intakes
Heels clatter, toes pike
Arms swing up into the night
Relève`, battement, flip then hips
Shoulders rolled back
Sway sway sway
Glide to the floor into forward roll
Split to the side, rotate, then jive
A staccato beat
Drumming my feet
Feel the rhythm, follow the vision
Dance…dance…bailar bailar
Dance to the rhythm…
Bailo al ritmo de los muertos
I dance to the rhythm of the dead…
– Sonia Yarde
KNews Reaction
Plop! Plop!
Morning news get drop
Feet shuffling,
Door opening, back bending
Door closing
Shrups …
Damn idiot politicians!
Scamming the nation
Chair creaking
Ughm…
Deep breathing
Pages turning,
What the hell?!
She poison sheself and the children
Poor angels
Lord help us…
Agh …
Deep breathing
Another robbery
This time the owners shoot he
But he was a ‘good boy’
Ha …
Woman kill spouse?!
Well is about time!
One of them finally fight back
Eww a gruesome attack
She brutal
Hey, this too much
Need to stick to de sports…
– Carlene Gill-Kerr
What is Guyanese poetry in 2022? The nation’s poetry is, of course, long established with outstanding achievements and a recognised place in world literature. This international recognition was celebrated as recently as December 2021, when Guyanese-born poet and novelist resident in London, Grace Nichols, was awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for excellence in poetry. Significantly, that same honour was bestowed on her husband, Guyanese-born poet John Agard in the year 2012.
