Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Trini Tuesday-Derek Walcott

I am taking a break on answering questions but will resume next week. This week in honor of National Poetry Month I wanted to feature Derek Walcott. Although he was born in St. Lucia, he moved to Trinidad at the age of 23 and a few years later formed the Trinidad Theatre Workshop. He wrote and produced numerous plays and wrote as a drama and art critic as well. He has lived so long in Trinidad and nurtured so many artists and writers on the island that he has been adopted as one of their own (showing how open Trinis are, anyone can be a Trini if they show an openess and a concern for the well-being of the culture and people). In 1992 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature (which has also been won by born and bred Trini, V.S. Naipual)


walcott
Love After Love

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

-- DEREK WALCOTT
Happy Trini Tuesday

10 comments:

James Goodman said...

That was fascinating, Lime. Happy Trini Tuesday!

Kelly said...

That was a beautiful poem, I hadn't heard of him before. Thanks for sharing.

ttfootball said...

Lime I feel you more Trini than yuh lettin us know...
Great choice of a Walcott poem to put up here.

(I had ACL surgery last december, I wish now i had got vicodin)

S said...

That was a cool poem..does it mean that when we are old and our husband croaks before us, hopefully, that we will have some peace and quiet to oursleves at last to finally do what we want?

:P hee hee

Sheri said...

Maybe it means that we can find love within ourselves even after a love is gone?

Beautiful poem Happy Trini Tuesday and I'm sending continued healing vibes to you!

Anonymous said...

I love that poem!
Thanks, limey!
Happy Trini Tuesday

Anonymous said...

Wonderful piece of work!!

Hope you are feeling ok :-}

AndyT13 said...

Nice. You're wonderful, really! BY all means keep us posted on your progress. Great stories so far even though I feel badly for your injury. Sending you lots of healing love!

Anonymous said...

great poem Lime...by a great poet...was aware of Walcott's work but never really got round to a whole bunch of it...will search some out at work soon...!!! healing vibes being sent as i type...mwah xxx

The Zombieslayer said...

Love that poem. That truly is a Nobel worthy poem, even though I'm not a poetry guy.

I think that moment happened about a year ago. It was a good moment for me. :)