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  • Callaloo
  • Merle Collins (bio)

Mix up like callaloo Not no watery callaloo But a thick, hot, sweet callaloo burnin' you tongue Wid dem chunk o' dumplin' goin' down nice an' wid coconut wid o' widdout deaders as de case may be as de taste may be as de pocket may be but sweet an' hot

Dat is what it feels like to be part o' dis Revolution reality O' dis wakin' up reality o' dis no more hidin' you passport reality no more hangin' you head an' shufflin' you foot an' tryin' to hide behin' de person in front o' you like little Janet behin' she mudder skirt [End Page 238] when de man ask "whey you from?"

No more playin' you doh hear or sayin' some shit like A . . . a . . . a . . . island near by Trinidad Or a . . . a few mile off Venezuela but out loud an' bole like you make de name GRENADA!

An' wid you head in de air becus de world is yours an' you know is yours an' you not goin' be meek meek meek an' wait to see if somebody goin' let you inherit the earth becus you know arready is yours

so you say loud an' clear an' proud GRENADA! an' you silent scream which he musbe hear becus he look up into your claimin' eyes says Dat mean Revolution Dat mean Progress Dat mean Forward! Dat mean sharin' [End Page 239] an' carin' an' believin' an' livin' an' lovin'

Dat mean a country in the Caribbean in Latin America in the Americas in the struggle in the world

Dat mean, Comrade a people like de people in Cuba in Nicaragua in Zimbabwe in Mozambique in strugglin' South Africa in all dem countries whey de people know dat doh donkey say de worl' ain't level even donkey heself musbe does shake he head to feel dem bumps an' know

how t'ink so hard for some toe an' so sof' for others

All o' we in all o' dis worl' so mix up like callaloo an' yet so not like callaloo an' dat is why de change an' de promise of de change is sweet an' strong [End Page 240]

like de soup w'en Grannie cover it down dey an' let it consomme like dat hot sweet burnin' heavy heavy

ca – lla – loo!

Merle Collins

Merle Collins, who teaches in the English Department at the University of Maryland, is author of books of poetry and fiction, including Rain Darling, Angel, The Colour of Forgetting, Rotten Pomerack, and Because the Dawn Breaks.

Poem reprinted from Because The Dawn Breaks! with permission of the author and Karia Press.

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