Verses from Atop the Mountain: Reflections from the Heart of Waitukubuli

By Giftus R. John

Author Giftus Johns goal for his home island of Dominica is to reach to the top of the mountaina milestone of greatnessdespite all the difficulties it faces. Although Dominicans may leave their home in pursuit of other dreams, he believes that someday they will return to a better land.

Building on this idea, Verses from atop the Mountain expresses Johns passion and concern for events in his homeland and his hopes that its negative situations will soon be remedied. This anthology of poems focuses on an array of topics: politics, nature, culture, love of country, abuse, life and death, and human behavior. Poems such as The Migrants Song, also explore the conditions that Dominicans may encounter in their adopted homelands, like the United States. Although there are hurdles to navigate for Dominica, as John makes clear in the last poem of the collection, Living in Hope, there is hope for the future.

Sharing one mans deep love for the land he still calls home, Verses from atop the Mountain presents poetry that invites you to experience the beauty and unique life of Dominica.

***

Verses From Atop The Mountain is the essential expression from the heart of a passionate patriot, who maintains a determined stance of struggling purpose within the diaspora, as Dominica, his beloved island home, where nature abounds, beckons. I Wait For Spring, illustrates that nostalgic longing quite eloquently. Giftus John is obviously involved with life in Dominica. The wealth of topic selections is rivaled only by the surprising and yet simple and accessible twists of phrases that embellish the work and bring joy to the reader, as it leans on colorful contrasting symbols embedded in Nature.

In The Village Awakens, one of my favorites, Giftus paints a lively picture of a village in Dominica that warms the soul of those who have experienced the unlocking of the secret of Dominican rural life. Like him, we all have smiled in awe at the beauty of the simple life that surrounds us. In What Is Freedom? another of my favorites, Giftus challenges almost everyones view of the word freedom. He is mad about the abuse of the doctrine of the right to free speech. He questions ones interpretation of freedom of association, and of freedom to be red, green, or blue, or to be gay, or straight. What is freedom? he asks. Is it just a word?

Verses From atop the Mountain is a delightful journey and a must have book for anyone interested in Dominican, and Caribbean poetry.
Ophelia Olivacc-Marie

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Mar 26, 2015
• ISBN: 9781491760529

Giftus R. John

Giftus John is originally from the Caribbean island of Dominica. This is his second full-length poetry collection. He is also the author of a collection of Dominican themed short stories and a novel. Married and a father of two, he currently lives in Union Township, New Jersey.

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 Giftus R. John.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Front Cover design, and other illustrations, by author.

iUniverse

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4917-6053-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-6052-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015903133

iUniverse rev. date: 3/24/2015

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Acknowledgement

Dedication

The Village Awakens

I Saw You Last Night

Ode To A Tree Stump

The Colors Of Her Life

Solitude…For My Daughter, Mandisa

I Wait For Spring

What Is Freedom?

Birds, Bees And Buds

Your Shadow

The Bell Tolls

Until Dawn Arrives

Truant

Sunlight

Cut From The Same Cloth

So Soon!

Where Are The Children?

The River

The Scars Remain

Morning…For My Son, Jamal

The Land Beckons Me

Hope

Nightmare

The Letter

The Church On The Hill

Moonlight

Prisoner

Another Round

Resurrection

The Migrant’s Song

My Dominican Belle

The Snow

Dance, My Dear. Dance!

Calypso Magic

The Last Dance

The Sun Rises Tomorrow

I Hear Your Cries

Like Crabs In A Barrel

Coward

My Four Seasons

Atop The Mountain

Arise Dominica

They Come

What Do You Do?

Living In Hope

Foreword

Lotka’s law posits that most people will write one article or one book in their lifetime. This, I believe, is Giftus’ fourth anthology of poems. Giftus has defied the odds. He has been defying the odds for a long time. I know! He taught me years ago. I congratulate you on a provoking piece of work, and thank you for inviting me to present the forward for this anthology. I am honored that the teacher can turn it over to his student.

Verses from atop the Mountain, signals a proclamation, a call, and a cry. This proclamation is symbolized by both the verses and the location from which they are proclaimed. The mountains, therefore, are metaphors for heights attained and the universality of the messages embedded in these verses. They are also symbolic of Giftus’ mountainous island origin and the land that remains almost like an unsettled bargain in these verses. The Migrant Song captures that unsettled existence derived from residence in an adopted homeland. Much of the work in this anthology, then, comes from lived experiences, a persistent banter between what is, and what used to be, what is left behind, and with what one now contends. In The Land Beckons Me, he finds solace and the assurance that he is not a castaway confirming the temporariness of the migrant tension between the homeland and the adopted homeland.

The work is a literary hopscotch (and I mean it in a flattering way,) of themes that addresses love, nature, reality, expectations, dreams and ambitions lined with hope and restoration: The Sun Rises Tomorrow; The Morning Awakens. This hopscotching, to me, is the art of a multifaceted artist, and Giftus is multifaceted. He is painter, writer, and poet. This book bears this out as he weaves together pieces on the spring, fall and the snow; things that are transient and yet in Ode to a Tree Stump, he