Unrighteousness of Man / Naming

Lyrics

Brathwaite's reading of this poem can be heard on SoundCloud or by opening this annotation Unrighteousness of MammonUnrighteousness of Mammon hotels for tourists rise on the sites of the old empire's promenades of cannon. Where Nelson walked, lost in his pirate's patch, new captains and their irate wives watch flying fish file by. Such history we write is stripped and torn by whip, by wind, worn by the wave from heart, from memory, from book, and look: blue chains of islands break; freedom surrounds us like the wave round rock; enchants, encircles, isolates us from that fear, that hope, that protest, that was our common ground. Naming1How then shall we succeed? The eye must heed the meaning the eye must be free seeing. 2What is a word to the eye? Meaning. Seeing the pot- boil of leaves in the wind it is a tree watching the pale hoist of shining it is the moon climbing. 3The tree must be named. This gives it fruit issues its juices. The moon must be named. This renders love madness. There is a gladness in the leaves when the rain stops before the rains stop. This is the drought. It is a fine haze. On clear days lifting from Africa it is the desert's gift of Christmas. By April, deciduous trees have lost their green diligence. A broom is sweeping the sky of its leaves. 4So the eye waits, the sun's gold weight lightens rain remakes trees leaves brighten the dolour the drying fish flies in the pool.