This photo was taken by Andrés, @adpascuas, my daughter’s boyfriend, while he was visiting the island of San Andrés, part of an archipelago located in the Caribbean, which belongs to Colombia.
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Keel (after Martin Carter)
Grounded Keel once saw
Ocean stained with memory
Now tourists snap shots
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The boat in the picture reminded me of Martin Carter’s poem, Fragment of Memory, from The When Time (1977), so I borrowed part of one of his last lines for my haiku.
Martin Wylde Carter (1927–1997) considered the greatest Guyanese poet, and one of the most important Caribbean poets, is best known for his poems of protest, resistance and revolution.
I love his poems because they are full of emotion and often sorrow, and yet they are not bitter or resentful. His poems acknowledge the pain but they also transmit hope in a better future.
Like Carter, I believe we should move on, but not forget. On the contrary, we need to be reminded of where we came from and past injustice to avoid a repetition of historical crimes and pay tribute to those who suffered.
More of Martin Carter’s poems here.
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This year is my fourth AtoZ Challenge. My theme this year is poetry once again. I’ll be writing a haiku a day, but I’m also adding a new hobby to the posts, photography. I will post one of my photos, or a donated photo, every day to accompany my haiku.
This April, I’ll also be sharing my poems and joining another group of poets at National Poetry Writing Month, organised since 2003 by Maureen Thorsonn. Write 30 poems in 30 days. I’m in! What about you?
Rereading Jane Eyre 