DYCR
Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
POETRY WAS truly for a cause at Weekenz Bistro and Bar, Constant Spring Road, St. Andrew, on Tuesday night.
The night was in support of the Mustard Seed initiative to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Of the many poets who performed, there were few who addressed the issue of HIV/AIDS directly in verse. Those who did, though, got the message across clearly, with Cherry Natural and Sajoya of the P.. P.. Posse examining incest and child abuse, which is a huge factor in the spread of HIV/AIDS to children. In addition, Sajoya looked at a man's betrayal of his female partner in The Good Wife.
De I Am gave his reasoning on AIDS being a deliberate effort to trim the population of the darker races, mixing information with explanation, while Steppa, though not delivering any poems specific to the matter, sent out his love to all persons with AIDS repeatedly.
DYCR was the poetic anchorman of the night, in a showing which started with his take on heartbreak which happened 'like dat', going through his experiences at Sting and climaxing with Grandma.
POSITIVE ENERGY
Before getting into her poetry Cherry Natural sent out a positive energy about the lady who was recently abducted, emphasising that "we a encourage all woman fi go learn self-defence."
Clad in a dark brown skirt and complementing blouse, Cherry Natural was no less an advocate of gender harmony than when clad in her more accustomed jeans pants, showing that her words need no costume. She began with Woman and there were cheers when she said "I don't have to be your clone to prove that I am in love with you."
De I Am linked AIDS with a spiralling world population and 'theological stupidity', stating that "AIDS to us was a Jekyll and Hyde discovery/Locked away in a CIA laboratory/So I an I know AIDS is a man-made disease ".
The audience was quiet for his laid-back delivery, bereft of theatrics, applauding at the end.
He went on to comment on the state of the Jamaican society, covering politics, gang rape of senior citizens, child molestation and homosexuality, stating "this society is out of sync with reality/Insanity now becomes normality". De I Am ended with 400 Years.
Sajoya took a seat on a stool, her red leather dress reflecting her quiet passion as she exhorted parents to listen to their children when they complain about being molested, to "turn not a blind eye/pay a child mind if she complains" and "give a listening ear/erase the fear"
She was accompanied by violinist Mark Stephenson on her other two poems.
HEARTBREAK
DYCR started out on a topic that men rarely speak of - heartbreak.
He continued in the vein of being let down by a woman with a tale of disappointment when "she fi come but she no come", then took a look at racial injustice at the hands of those "playing like kittens and biting like cats".
He shifted gears with Sting, having to take it from the top when he spoke of Frankie Paul 'bawling aw, aw, aw, aw'. He got to only two words of Grandma before he had to 'wheel up', starting over and getting into the poem with a very expressive right hand illustrating the lines, the mic in the left. "As mi siddung again," DYCR said, taking a seat, "me hear she call me..."
He did not have to finish the line, as the crowd chanted 'Delroy, Delroy'. He also seemed to be feeling the anguish especially strongly that night, as he dropped in 'de dutty woman'.
Steppa was the night's final guest poet, declaring his serous intentions "if I did have a gun", his adoration for the black woman ("har colour intac/har skin she naa subtrac") and using a backing track to enquire "a whe de music gone iyah?"
The band HUSH, with a young male vocal quartet up front, started a capella with Listen to the Voices and dropped roots reggae with Simplicity on the way to a swinging ska end.
Matthew Smith from Radio Mona provided the recorded music for the night.
