Mi Revalueshanary Fren

Linton Kwesi Johnson

Linton Kwesi Johnson is one of the most influential black poets in Britain. The author of five previous collections of poetry and numerous record albums, he is known worldwide for his fusion of lyrical verse and reggae. Much of his work is written in the street Creole of the Caribbean communities in which he grew up in England. Mi Revalueshanary Fren includes all of his best-known poems, which concern racism and politics, personal experience, philosophy, and the art of music, among other things.

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ISBN: 9781931337298

Format: Paperback

Reality Poem

dis is di age af reality
but some a wi a deal wid mitalagy
dis is di age af science an teknalagy
but some a wi a check fi antiquity

wen wi can’t face reality
wi leggo wi clarity
some latch awn to vanity
some hol insanity
some get vizshan
start preach relijan
but dem can’t mek decishan
wen it come to wi fite
dem can’t mek decishan
wen it come to wi rites

man,
dis is di age af reality
but some a wi a deal wid mitalagy
dis is di age af science an teknalagy
but some a wi a check fi antiquity

dem one deh gaan outta line
dem naw live in fi wi time
far dem seh dem get sign
an dem bline dem eye
to di lite a di worl
an gaan search widin
di dark a dem doom
an a shout bout sin
instead a fite fi win

man,
dis is di age af reality
but some a wi a deal wid mitalagy
dis is di age af science an teknalagy
but some a wi a check fi antiquity

dis is di age af decishan
soh mek wi leggo relijan
dis is di age af decishan
soh mek wi leggo divishan
dis is di age af reality
soh mek wi leggo mitalagy
dis is di age af science an teknalagy
mek wi hol di clarity
mek wi hol di clarity

About the Author

Linton Kwesi Johnson was born in 1952 in Chapelton, Clarendon Parish, Jamaica. He came to London in 1963, went to Tulse Hill secondary school and studied sociology at Goldsmiths College, University of London. He was a member of the Black Panthers and developed his work with Rasta Love, a group of poets and drummers. In 1977 he was awarded a C. Day-Lewis Fellowship, becoming the writer-in-residence of Lambeth. He then worked at the Keskidee Centre, Britain’s first home for Black …

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Reviews

“Few poets of the last thirty years have approached [Linton Kwesi Johnson’s] diversity of formal innovations; few have communicated so intensively via performances and recordings, as often as not with integral musical settings; and few have proved so effective politically… a living modern classic for real.” —London Magazine

“You can just hear the reggae drumbeat as his verse vacillates among fire, anger, fear, profound loss, and victory.” —Savoy Magazine