This book of poems "Private Words, more in the matter besides the pestle" is a revelation of a kind rhythm with cadences that comprise expressions, and delivery of speech, that generations of children like the author, grew up listening to, that keeps poetry very alive in author to this day.
Growing up in a community in which learning was a family, and village mandate; and because families were close, we learned from each other. Among the past time events, were storytelling and recitation.
Young children, mainly the boys, acquired auditory skills in an amusing way, as they listened to the unforgettable delivery of poetic lines, while sitting on Birch Grove bridge, or generally on the roots of the breadfruit tree in the yard.
There were leading voices like my cousins Catherine, Flavian, and Francis Charles. Today Francis is better known as "Casa" for his unmatchable rendition of the great poem "Cassandra Bianca" by the English poet Felicia Dorothea Hemans. This poem commemorates an actual incident that occurred in 1798 during the Battle of the Nile between British and French fleets.
The verses in this book are provoked by the culture of voice and articulation in which the author grew up, that lingers within him to this day. "Private Words, more in the matter besides the pestle" is a tribute to great poets past and present, and to all from my early years have intensified my love for poetry.
