Parasites

When I was twenty-one or maybe it was  

twenty-two amoebas multiplied the pain of it 

 

I left for home lighter much lighter though tropical  

sun turned my shade to black my own mother didn’t 

 

last year at the hospital lab parasites rediscovered 

in my stools sit with this a little while so much time 

 

hidden settling unsettling one is transitive one in transit 

I am saying only what those microscopes saw not what I  

 

felt so much so many years of unsettling so gut me in my 

feeling so many poisoned rivers so sad when they said unto 

 

me I had been carrying these Caribbean waters all these years 

gut refugees fed an old world diet I will not say contaminated  

 

I would rather carry a billion billion times more because I am hosting 

their stories and I have never felt this empty this bitter this so help me. 

first published in Filigree: Contemporary Black British Poetry (Peepal Tree, 2018), © Keith Jarrett 2018, used by permission of the author

Keith Jarret is a former UK Poetry Slam Champion and FLUPP International Poetry Slam Winner from London. He rose to prominence on the ...

The free tracks you can enjoy in the Poetry Archive are a selection of a poet’s work. Our catalogue store includes many more recordings which you can download to your device.

Glossary
Close