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Poetry Archive Now Wordview 2022: A Season of Grief
by Amílcar Sanatan
I lost several friends in 2022. They were all young men who died due to the COVID-19 virus, suicide and other health related complications. Now that I work full-time in East Port-of-Spain and work actively to intervene in the increasing violence and gang wars which afflict communities, I have become more conscious about the precariousness of human life. Many, especially young men, die and 'disappear' in our communities. I grieve for them all.
Poetry Archive Now Wordview 2022: A Season of Grief
Oblivious to the danger of vehicular traffic,
a school girl stoops on the side of the street,
retying loose shoelaces in the same fashion
as the red ribbons in her hair.
A primary schooler is too young
to stop believing in infinity. I pass her
like the years childhood seemed sweet
and salted prunes were rewards for virtue.
For me, aging compels quiet and stillness.
I own more doubts than tenor notes
played in a steel pan orchestra in Laventille,
beneath a muted city of burning stars.
Godfrey, Kenton, Omavi, Ryton, Jeph.
My friends, I began this year counting you,
among the dead.
You will not rise with Easter Sunday kites
across the savannah,
those brilliant paper sails with red tails
fathers and sons raise on steady winds
for the years ahead of separation.
Poem recorded as part of Poetry Archive Now: Wordview 2022. Used by permission of author.
A special thank you to our WordView 2021 poets.
Chair of the Judging Panel, Joelle Taylor, says: "We were thrilled by the range and scope of the poetry and techniques explored throughout the wide submissions. I have said before that to write a poem is an act of resistance but to then perform it as well is a revolution. It takes a bravery to face the page, and a further one to stand by your words. While we’ve all become more used to filming ourselves over the pandemic, all of us were deeply aware of that courage.
Often when on a judging panel we find ourselves faced with impossible decisions. If you can imagine, after sifting, it’s as though a hundred people have crossed the finish line at precisely the same moment but there are only three medals. How do we come to these decisions? Through the objective unpicking of the poems, through our individual passions, through a consideration of narratives, especially those lesser heard. We come to it through uneasy negotiation and through heart, and above all through our shared love and understanding of the possibilities of poetry.
Our honest applause goes to all who submitted, and I hope you can hear it.
Congratulations to those we selected. We hope to see you all again soon."
See the collectionWatch the full Wordview 2022 playlist