Prophets

by Kwame Dawes

Overview

Set in Jamaica in the late 1980s and 1990s, Prophets is a poem of rhythmic and metaphoric inventiveness that portrays the social and cultural resonances of Jamaican society along with the tension between an ebullient cynicism and a heartfelt desire for faith. As 24-hour television, belching out the voices of American hellfire preachers, competes with dancehall, slackness, and ganja for Jamaican minds, Clarice and Thalbot preach their own conflicting visions. Clarice has used her gifts to raise herself from the urban Jamaican ghetto. She basks in the adulation of her followers as they look to her for their personal salvation. Thalbot has fallen from comfort and security onto the streets. With his wild matted hair and nakedness, he is a deranged voice in the wilderness. Whilst Clarice has her blue-eyed Jesus, Thalbot brandishes his blackness in the face of every passer-by. But when, under cover of darkness, Clarice "sins" on the beach, Thalbot alone knows of her fall. He sets out to journey, like Jonah, to denounce the prophetess and warn the Ninevite city of its coming doom. An epic struggle begins.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781845234041
Publisher:	Peepal Tree Press Ltd.
Publication date:	07/01/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Kwame Dawes is the author of more than 30 books and is widely recognized as one the Caribbean’s leading writers. He is Glenna Luschei Editor of Prairie Schooner and a Chancellor’s Professor of English at the University of Nebraska. Dawes was also recently selected as an honorary Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.

Table of Contents

Prologue 9

Part 1

I Introit 15

II In Shady Cloister Mew'd 19

III Who Will Mourn for Her (Nahum 3:7) 23

IV This Day of Aborted Beginnings 28

V Sovereign City 31

VI Denial 38

VII The Old Man 42

VIII Changing the Guard 44

IX Confessional 49

X Hermit 54

XI Infidelity 60

XII The Fear of Prophecy 64

XIII Sunday Morning 66

Part 2

XIV The Making of a Prophet 71

XV Legion 81

XVI Communion 85

XVII It is the Cause (Bellevue Ska) 88

XVIII On the Road to Emmaus 93

XIX Equinox 98

XX Requiem for the Harrowed Poet 103

XXI The Preacher and the Prophetess Sin 107

XXII The Saints Return Triumphant 113

Part 3

XXIII Thalbot and the Vine 123

Part 4

XXIV Speaking for the First Time 149

XXV Miracles 152

XXVI The Perks of Prophecy 153

XXVII The Last Poem 154

XXVIII Flight 155