Poets can learn a lot from the timing of the best comics: pacing, economy, judiciousness, silence, rhythm, reward.

Lord teach wings how/in the stark silence of these evenings/ in the fine chiselled rock spaces/ to fold and nest... - 'After Heartease New England', Velma Pollard

I don't want to be one of those ivory tower writers; I want to affect people's lives.

An engraver in short, sharp slashes that go deep. Andrew Salkey

Poetry matters because it is a tool for helping us to discover who we are. As individuals, as Caribbean peoples, as citizens of the world. Olive Senior

...the popular music of Jamaica, the music of the people, is an essentially experiential music... the music reflects the historical experience. - Linton Kwesi Johnson

I defy anyone to listen to a performance of his poetry and not come away uplifted - Poetry Review

Good poetry is like effective prayer, it feeds the human spirit, it nourishes, it puts us in touch with forces far greater than ourselves. Lorna Goodison

...and the poem will not care that some walk past/afraid of the words we try out on our tongues/ hoping this finally is the language of God, /that he might hear it and respond. Kei Miller, from 'Speaking in Tongues'.

wen yuh see she walk//holdin freedom water//balance pon she head - 'caribbean woman', Jean 'Binta' Breeze