Program
Support
From:
PBS NewsHour
ABOUT US  |  LOCAL TV LISTINGS    EMAIL   PRINT
TopicsVideoRecent ProgramsTeacher ResourcesThe Rundown: news blogSubscribe rss | podcast
   Arts and Entertainment Archive

By Kwame Dawes

Kingston settles on your skin,
the grit of wood-fire and exhaust
on your body; you know sin,
the pleasure of untrammeled lust.

Kingston is green in November,
so much rain; the water creeps
to the surface. I remember
the taste of june plum seeds.

Most of my friends are dying--
the thing is they know it,
and the others are busy nursing
the dying: God's cruel edits.

So many saints frighten me
and I grow silent, disease
has a name: HIV/AIDS.
We are caught up in a breeze

that grows to a growl
crossing the water, dragging
the belly of the sea--a howl
shattering the black evening.

I stand in the storm,
let its battering break me;
I know now every form
of death; no more mystery here.

The eye passes mutely;
and while the earth vomits
and shingles cartwheel
around me. I doubt it

all; the conspiracy of death.
I will live to see the wasting
of my flesh; my last breath
will be in a calm season.

They will know my sins,
every betrayal; those I killed,
those whose voices begin
whisper to me until

tears come, until I pray
to slip away like night,
a frail man limping
towards morning light.

 

Kwame DawesKwame Dawes is director of the South Carolina Poetry Initiative and the University of South Carolina Arts Institute, where he also teaches as distinguished poet in residence. He also blogs for the Poetry Foundation and serves as programming director for the Calabash International Literary Festival, which takes place each May in Jamaica.

Recently, Dawes teamed up with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting to create a multimedia Web site called 'HOPE: Living and Loving with HIV in Jamaica.' The interactive site pairs his poetry with music, essays and video from people living with the disease and their caretakers.

Make a Comment    |    Read Comments     |    Email    |   + Del.icio.us    |    + Facebook   |   + Digg
Broadcast Reports
Arts Correspondent
Jeffrey Brown

Jeffrey Brown

Correspondent Jeffrey Brown covers all things art and entertainment in these online exclusive reports.
» Bio

For Teachers

Lesson plans, student voices and a teacher community devoted to bringing arts coverage into the classroom.

TEACHER ARTS ARCHIVE

NewsHour Poetry Series
Poetry Series

An exploration of the role of poetry in society and profiles of contemporary poets, with streaming video and downloadable readings.

 
 
 
The PBS NewsHour is Funded in part by: The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Additional Foundation and Corporate Sponsors
Program
Support
From:
Copyright © 1996- MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. All Rights Reserved.