Quick Sketch
for Lorna Goodison

her gestures
as big as an event on stage

all she’s doing is walking by
in white T-shirt, black jeans
wearing slippers,
carrying an unopened umbrella

though rain’s falling
though not squalling down

chewing gum or something
to complement her rhythm

tattoo, a blue, sizable scar
upon her right upper arm

I conclude she’s here from Kingston
used to having to stand out
among her country’s several million

she juts out easily therefore
here along Kemp Road

possibly more than she wishes to

is it to suggest she’s not a bit afraid
though away from Dunn’s River Falls
away from her Blue Mountains


© Obediah Michael Smith, 2008
3:26 p.m. 19.02.08