Time - a poem by Edward Kamau Brathwaite

This week is a busy week as the conference I have been organising for the past month is fast approaching, and there are countless little details to keep track of and to sort out in the few remaining days. In such a flurry of details and hours, it is good to be reminded of the bigger picture and to read Edward Kamau Brathwaite's poetry.


Time

Time is the grey wood
streaked with grain
tears carve a trail down its grave pain

the eyes are in heaven
where the clouds are closed
darkness darkness darkness

breathes through the blind leaves
akee pods crack pollen explodes
the mango fruit falls with its wound

(Printed in Third World Poems, Longman, 1983)