Goodnite
Rent from DeepDyve- Goodnite
Goodnite
(for my mother)
i
siddung pan vahrandah in yu wheelchairshame-a-lady now growin at yu gate
yu dawtah dem baid an powdah yuput yu inna nappy like baby
children a run up an dung out a roaddem lawftah is music in yu ears
yu is a big girl now in sandy rivahbaidin andah rose apple tree
ii
siddung pan vahrandah in yu wheelchairin di calm evenin atmosfare
no heaviness a hawt no worryin tawtjus a peaceful feelin deep widin
flowahs in yu gawdn please yu eyea ripe julie mango drap a grung
bird pan litepost a sing a late sangyu a wandah wat tomarrow agoh bring [End Page 27]
iii
siddung pan vahrandah in yu wheelchairtankful fi di likkle cool breeze
artritis mek yu bone dem betray yuno bittah tais lingah pan yu tongue
battalions a cloud mawchin yandahdi weary sun soon gawn to bed
di lite a fade fawce in di twilitetime a draw near fi seh goodnite [End Page 28]
Linton Kwesi Johnson was born in 1952 in Chapelton, Jamaica. He came to London in 1963, studied Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London and was a member of the Black Panthers. In 1974 Johnson's first collection of poetry, Voices of the Living and the Dead, was published. In 2002 he was only the second living poet and the first black poet to have his work included in Penguin's Modern Classics, titled Mi Revalueshanary Fren: Selected Poems. Johnson's first album, Dread Beat An Blood, was released in 1978; he has since released fourteen more. Linton Kwesi Johnson has been running LKJ Records since 1981. His numerous international awards include becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (2013) and Jamaica's Order of Distinction (Commander Class) in 2014. He is a Trustee of the George Padmore Institute and the 198 Gallery.
