Listen to the world’s best poetry read out loud.

Jasmattie live in bruk – 

Down hut big like Bata shoe-box, 

Beat clothes, weed yard, chop wood, feed fowl 

For this body and that body and every blasted body, 

Fetch water, all day fetch water like if the whole – 

Whole slow-flowing Canje river God create 

Just for she one own bucket. 

Till she foot-bottom crack and she hand cut-up 

And curse swarm from she mouth like red-ants 

And she cough blood on the ground but mash it in: 

Because Jasmattie heart hard, she mind set hard  

To hustle save she one-one slow penny, 

Because one-one dutty make dam cross the Canje 

And she son Harilall got to go school in Georgetown, 

Must wear clean starch pants, or they go laugh at he, 

Strap leather on he foot, and he must read book, 

Learn talk proper, take exam, go to England university, 

Not turn out like he rum-sucker chamar dadee.