Skeete’s Bay, Barbados
(for Wayne Redman, d. 1978)
One always missed the turning, but found, in timethe broken sign that pointed crookedly, loth toallow another stranger here. Perhaps this Tomor Dick has plans for progress that will towthe boats away and make them quaint; that will tamethis wild coast with pale rheumatics who teeoff where sea-egg shells and fishermennow lie with unconcern. Naked children and their sticks flush crabs from out their holes and a bare-legged girl, dress in wet foldswades slow towards a waning sun.The sea rose angrily.It knew that freedom here was short.It remembered other coastsmade ‘mod’ by small-eyed men in big cars.And as before, it knew she’d vanishthe bare-legged girl; the children and their crabswould leave, a ‘better’ world would banishthem to imitation-coconut trays.But those small eyes reflecting dollar signshave not yet found the crooked finger to this peace;and down the beach the women bathe their sonswho’ll never talk, like Pap, of fishing seasons past.Only memory will turn down this waywhen some old man somewhere recalls his dayon this beach where sea-egg shells once lay.
Feature Date
- February 7, 2022
Series
- What Sparks Poetry
Selected By
Share This Poem
Print This Poem
“Skeete’s Bay” from Elemental (Peepal Tree Press, 2008) © John Robert Lee, reproduced by permission of Peepal Tree Press.
John Robert Lee (b. 1948) is a Saint Lucian writer who has published several collections of poetry. His short stories, poems, essays and reviews can be found in many journals (print and online), newspapers and international anthologies. He curates a Caribbean Poetry Portfolio for Acalabash.com where much of his recent work is also published. Lee’s latest publications are Pierrot published by Peepal Tree Press in 2020, Saint Lucian Writers and Writing: an author Index of published works of poetry, prose and drama (Papillote Press, 2019) and Collected Poems 1975-2015 (Peepal Tree Press, 2017).
He has been a teacher, librarian, radio and TV broadcaster, literary journalist, reviewer, newspaper columnist, actor and director. He presently manages an email list serve to Caribbean writers at home and abroad. He is committed to Caribbean Community. In 1993, at the launching of a poetry collection by Lee entitled Translations, Nobel laureate Derek Walcott said of his younger contemporary, “Robert Lee has been a scrupulous poet; that’s the biggest virtue he has, and it’s not a common virtue in poets, to be scrupulous and modest in the best sense, not to over-extend the range of the truth of his emotions, not to go for the grandiose. He is a Christian poet obviously. You don’t get in the poetry anything that is, in sense, preachy or self-advertising in terms of its morality. He is a fine poet.”
"Robert Lee has been a scrupulous poet, that’s the biggest virtue that he has, and it’s not a common virtue in poets, to be scrupulous and modest in the best sense, not to over-extend the range of the truth of his emotions, not to go for the grandiose. He is a Christian poet obviously. You don’t get in the poetry anything that is, in a sense, preachy or self-advertising in terms of its morality. He is a fine poet."
—Derek Walcott, Nobel Laureate 1992
"John Robert Lee’s Collected Poems 1975-2015 is a testimony of the significance and high quality of contemporary St Lucian literature. His is a voice that has recorded its history, journeyed on its waves, refracted the lucent Caribbean light, its community and the kingdom of God — all with care, lyricism, heart and intelligence. Yet, the yearning in him persists — and that is a hallmark of a fine and committed poet."
—Sudeep Sen
Poetry Daily Depends on You
With your support, we make reading the best contemporary poetry a treasured daily experience. Consider a contribution today.
