Andre Bagoo's Blog, page 12

‘There is a part of us of immeasurable strength. It is steely,...

‘There is a part of us of immeasurable strength. It is steely, and if properly honed, it can be our bridge to salvation. In this paradoxical shift, Bagoo sees, writes, and draws the human body with startling power.’

- Dr Glenville Ashby reviews BURN in Newsday

"Trinidad is both paradise and peculiar playground, in Bagoo’s second collection: a bold and..."

“Trinidad is both paradise and peculiar playground, in Bagoo’s second collection: a bold and...

Andre & the Patasars - my new band - had a great time...

Andre & the Patasars - my new band - had a great time reading today from BURN alongside Rhoda Bharath, Sharon Millar and Marlene Davis at the PaperBased Bookshop. Special thank you band-mate Prashant Patasar for tabla as well as tanpura and swar mondal! (at Hotel Normandie Trinidad and Tobago)

‘Now at last I know why I was brought here and what I have...

‘Now at last I know why I was brought here and what I have to do.’

Wide Sargasso Sea

By Jean Rhys

"Eternityhas nothing — and everything —to do with me."

“Eternity
has nothing — and everything —
to do with me.” - Michelle Barker, ‘Satori’

‘When I think of Auden, I think of his face and the story...

‘When I think of Auden, I think of his face and the story it tells. All of the photographs agree. In his later years, his wrinkles were unmistakable. He looked like weathered rock. Or a slab of Arctic ice, cracked and hewn by time. I imagine his eyes as black pools, forming fluvial valleys, crying, whether in sorrow or joy. In a sense, Auden’s face tells the story of his first love. And in a sense, all of his poetry tells that story.’- from my post on the poet WH Auden for The Operating System’s poetry month series 2015. MORE.

Charlie Baylis reviews BURN at Stride magazine

'A rich array of themes and locations and the writing is clear and confident.'  MORE.

Second film poem from BURN by Andre Bagoo (Shearsman Books,...

Second film poem from BURN by Andre Bagoo (Shearsman Books, 2015:http://bit.ly/1xvaYw0). See the first here: http://youtu.be/EnEEqNgCueo

I AM THE ARCHIPELAGO.I am the archipelago hopeWould mould into...

I AM THE ARCHIPELAGO
.
I am the archipelago hope
Would mould into dominion; each hot green island
Buffeted, broken by the press of tides
And all the tales come mocking me
Out of the slave plantations where I grubbed
Yam and cane; where heat and hate sprawled down
Among the cane – my sister sired without
Love or law. In that gross bed was bred
The third estate of colour. And now
My language, history and my names are dead
And buried with my tribal soul. And now
I drown in the groundswell of poverty
No love will quell. I am the shanty town,
Banana, sugarcane and cotton man;
Economies are soldered with my sweat
Here, everywhere; in hate’s dominion;
In Congo, Kenya, in free, unfree America.
….

(1957)

Trinidadian poet Eric Roach (1915 - 1974)

Eric Roach and black identity

“Roach – sometimes called the “Black Yeats”– was one in a long line of poets for whom imitation and...