The Dust

Lyrics

Brathwaite's reading of this poem can be heard on SoundCloud or by opening this annotation The DustEvenin' Miss Evvy, Miss Maisie, Miss Maud. Olive, how you? How you, Eveie, chile? You tek dat Miraculous Bush fuh de trouble you tell me about? Hush! Doan keep so much noise in de white people shop! But you tek it? Ev'ry night 'fore uh gets into bed. Uh bet- 'cha you feelin' less poorly a'ready! I int know, Pearlie, man. Any- way, the body int dead. No man, you even lookin' more hearty! A'ready? Then all uh kin say an' uh say it agen: we got to thank God fuh small mеrcies. Amen, Eveiе, chile. Amen, Eveie, chile an' agen I say is Amen. Miss Evvy, uh wants you to trus' me half pung-a flour an' two cake o' soap till Mundee come wid de will o' de Lord. Write two cake o' soap an' half pung-a flour in Olive black balance book fuh me, Maisie muh dear. An' Olive--- doan fuhget 'bout de biscuit an' sawlfish you daughter Marilyn come here an' say that you wish to tek out las' month! Mundee Dee Vee, uh settlin' up ev'ry brass bill an' pen- ny that owin' this shop, Miss Olive muh dear. Hey Mary! You there? I int see you there wid you head half hide in de dark o' dat crocus bag. How Darrington mule? He still sicky-sicky. An' now I hear dat de cow gone down too. It int give no milk since las' Tuesdee. Is de pes- tilence, man. Same kind o' sickness, like wickedness, man, dis- favour de yams. Is true. Bolinjay, spinach, wither-face cabbage, muh Caroline Lee an' the Six Weeks, too; greens swibble up an' the little blue leafs o' de Red Rock slips gettin' dry dry dry. Is de pes- tilence, man. Mister Gilkes say is a test o' de times like the nine- teen fourteen an' eighteen war when they burn out 'e balls wid dat yellowin' mustard gas. An' if you as' me, there soon goin' to be fresh wars an' rumours of wars. But is true. Is the pes- tilence, man. You int hear the silence? Pastor say las' night in the Chapel that the Writin' Han' pun the Wall. But that isn't all! you remember that story Gran' tell us 'bout May dust? No! What nother fuss that? Well it seem that they have a mountain near hey that always smokin' an' boilin' like when you belly got bile. What you sayin', chile! But is true! Now how you know! Any- body live there? You know any- body from there who live out near here? Besides, where exactly you say this place is? That isn't you biz- ness! Besides, is miles an' miles from the peace o' this place an' is always purrin' an' pourin' out smoke. Some say is in one o' them islands away where they language tie-tongue an' to hear them speak so in they St. Lucia patois is as if they cahn unnerstan' a single word o' English. But uh doan really know. All uh know is that one day suddenly so this mountain leggo one brugg-a-lung-go whole bloody back side o' this hill like it blow off like they blastin' stones in the quarry. Rocks big as you cow pen hois' in the air as if they was one set o' shingles. That noise, Jesus Christ, mussa rain down splinter an' spark as if it was Con- federation. But you int got to call the Lord name in vain to make we swallow this tale! It int nice, Olive, man! It is true! An' the Lord God know that uh sorry. But it black black black from that mountain back: in yuh face, in yuh food, in yuh eye. In fac', Granny say, in de broad day light, even de white o' she skylight went out. An' if you hear people shout! how they can't find the way how they isn't have shelter can't pray to no priest or no leader an' God gone an' darken the day! Gran' say that even the fowls in the yard jump back pun they coops when the air turn grey an' the cocks start to crow as if it was foreday mornin'. It went dark dark dark as if it was night an' uh fright- en, you know, when uh hear things so; is make me wonder an' pray: 'cause uh say to meself: Olive, chile, you does eat an' sleep an' try to fuhget some o' de burdens you back got to bear; you does drink, dance sometimes pun a Sar'dee night, meet yuh man an' if God bless yuh, beget Yuh does get up, walk 'bout, praise God that yuh body int turnin' to stone, an' that you bubbies still big; that you got a good voice that can shout for heaven to hear you: int got nothin' to fear from no man. You does come to the shop, stop, talk little bit, get despatch an' go home; you still got a back that kin dig in the fields an' hoe an' pull up the weeds from the peeny brown square that you callin' you own; you int sick an' you children strong; ev'ry day you see the sun rise, the sun set; God sen' ev'ry month a new moon. Dry season follow wet season again an' the green crop follow the rain. An' then suddenly so widdout rhyme widdout reason you crops start to die you can't even see the sun in the sky; an' suddenly so, without rhyme, without reason, all you hope gone ev'rything look like it comin' out wrong. Why is that? What it mean?