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Black British Portable Paradise
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Portable Paradise

Portable Paradise 9781845234331.jpg

Portable Paradise

£9.99

A dazzling collection by a master wordsmith. Winner of the T.S. Elliot Prize 2019 and Michael Ondaatjie prize 2020.

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Diane Abbott stares down a jester…

Ishaq Imruh Bakari

 

a most eloquent voice

has spoken from the decorated

anchored in his honours

a bona fide member of empire

has spoken from his pedestal

 

there is no need now to shout

back or front it is what it is

with help from hooded tabloids

all is fair if draped in Christian

prayer and writ of right to own

 

a most generous soul

among financial pillars

the jester is no jester

 

he knows the stakes are high

he knows the loss of stock pains

the mind and empty heritage chest

 

he knows the stare of nostalgia

he knows the sight of an empty mirror

filled with attic fantasies from a plantation

 

he knows the bluffing has to end

he knows the auction block is all

that will remain of his coliseum

 

he knows the catechism is no more

he knows the cat of nine tails has only one

useless life waiting to be pampered as a pet

 

with the spittle shared

among the apologetic

the jester is no jester

 

he is a moderate

in the party politic

he is graceful

 

all is rag and bone

behind the brawn / behind the bristle

from his ambulance of savings

furious / flustered

 

he rides a stinking headwind

with cudgel and consorted

kings and queens and devils

the jester is no jester

 

he is a joker in the pack

the penny farthing hustler

 

he is a graveyard coal

shovel dancing as a clown

 

stare it down / stare it down

it-is-a-dancing-clown

 

 

©IshaqImruhBakari

Mar24

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