Book Reviews


 Success comes, when, like the lilies that neither
spin nor toil, a natural leaning toward the subject is
allowed to develop un-self-consciously, without "a port's
stance," without poetizingg." If the "natural" leanings
or sensitivities of the three contributors can be
intuited from the selections in Three Islands--and this
analysis of a poet's observation is offered with the
caveat that any personality always carries risks--Cooper
seems to arrived at an unruffled acceptance of life's
follies and failures. In "Doin You Own Ting?" even the
racial superiority of the British colonial mentality is
subdued not by indignation or some other moral stance,
but by an oblique and sly humor:

 "Hey? Chauffer?" de tourist beeped in
 "Do you speak English?"
 De chaufer loo roun, kind a puzzled like,
 "Me no bin a Englan, Bo."

 And in "After Indira," a sense of resignation seems
to muffle the intended irony:

 And now--
 Seven million sin-sick souls
 Border on the brink of blood
 Inspired by religious piety.

 Trevos Parris devotes several of his contributions in
the publication to the love/hate dichotomy. He seems
to view the world as tainted by hate and in need of
cleansing, with love as the redeeming agent. The idea
as presented in "Good Friday Poem" has the volcano
Soufridre blakening not only St. Vincent but also nearby
islands, and leaving in its trail of "fallen dust/fallen
love" the question,

 Who shall lift the ash?
 sweep the dust?
 wash the streets?
 Quench Soufriere?

 NO ONE:
 til love swallows its tail
 consuming hate, . . .