J’Ouvert
Royston Emmanuel
Tonight we’ll lie in wait
and listen for that call,
for those diamond steel
rhythms that wake the ground
and make the darkness bawl,
that cut with vengeance
through the night,
riding errant breezes
and causing endless havoc
through the leaves outside.
Tonight the darkness rides
a meter that have trees
breaking left, then right,
trying hard to snap
their roots and catch
that madman
chasing down the midnight
legion to join, and preside
over mayhem
with bottle, tin
with drum
with pan
with tire rim
and iron.
Tonight we’ll forge
and pound a path.
We’ll move the earth
with drum and bass.
We’ll watch the flood gates’
belly grow,
We’ll watch them twist and
bend and wait
for the surge,
and scream
and break through
Marchand, through
Riverside, deep
into the madness
that rules all sleep
82
TCW