ABSTRACT
In this chapter we consider several poems representative of the breadth of style and vision of contemporary Caribbean poetry, beginning with a few established poets and classic poemsLorna Goodison’s ‘Mother the Great Stones Got to Move’, Olive Senior’s ‘Meditation on Yellow’, Dennis Scott’s ‘Guard ring’, Merle Collins’ ‘Pearls’, Eddie Baugh’s ‘Nigger Sweat’ and Mervyn Morris’ ‘Muntu’. Complementing this work is that of a younger generation of outstanding poets: Christian Campbell, Kei Miller and Tanya Shirley, representing the broad range of fi ne post-Independence voices. Like many of the earlier poems, these are characterised by a rich infusion of traditional beliefs, engagement with the history of the region and rich depictions of the landscape. They are, however, distinguished by a greater variety in the forms used, more creative play with Caribbean languages as well as discovering and co-creating a present Caribbean homeland and its future. This chapter will focus on the latter.
