Caribbean Literature: Selected Poems by Ian McDonald

Selected Poems by Ian McDonald takes the reader through McDonald's journey as a poet from the 1950s to present and shares vividly Caribbean life.

Selected Poems by Ian McDonald is a short anthology of the poet's work from the 1950s to present day. Published in 2008 by Macmillan Publishers Limited, McDonald's poems offer an intimate view of Caribbean life as he expounds on love, culture, nature, struggle and development. While the pieces range in length from 8 lines to 3 pages, each poem is unique and offers a fresh view of life from the poet's perspective.

Ian McDonald - An Experienced Caribbean Writer, Playwright & Tennis Champ

Ian McDonald was born in Trinidad in 1933 but has lived in Guyana since 1955. He has published several collections of poetry including Mercy Ward (Peterloo Poets, 1988), Essequibo (Peterloo Poets & Story Line Press, 1992) and Jaffo the Calypsonian (Peepal Tree Press, 1994). This poet is not a stranger in literary circles as he has written novels including The Humming-Bird Tree (1969) and plays such as "The Tramping Man." According to publishers, Peepal Tree Press, The Humming Bird Tree "has been in almost continuous print ever since, and more recently made into a BBC film." McDonald was also an accomplished tennis player who competed in the Davis Cup and played at Wimbledon. In addition, according to the author's page on Peepal Tree Press, McDonald was recently awarded "a richly deserved Honorary PhD by the University of the West Indies."

McDonalds' Selected Poems Covers Over Five Decades of Poetry

It is quite a feat for any writer to share a collection that spans over fifty years of literature. In August 2008 at Carifesta X in Guyana, McDonald was able to launch Selected Poems. While the poems in Selected Poems all hold the common creative value, as anyone reads through the pieces, they will note the change in tone as the writer journeys through the decades. The book is divided into three eras: the "1950s to 1960s", the "Early to Mid-1980s" and the "Late 1980s and After."

• Poems in "1950s and 1960s": Twenty-eight varied poems cover this era. Full of colorful references and images of nature, these poems not only express the basic literary devices of metaphors and imagery but offer short tales on interesting characters. "Indian Love Statement" reads "Tassim loves her like an idiot, makes himself a saga boy." In the poem "Jaffo the Calypsonian", McDonald writes "Jaffo was a great Calypsonian, fire ate up his soul to sing and play calypso iron music" with a latter line written "But in the rumshop he was best, drinking the heavy sweet molasses rum he was better than any calypso man."
• "Early to Mid-1980s" Poems: McDonald chose to share thirty poems from this time period. These pieces have the same charismatic flavor and vivid consistency as the earlier poems. The poems that will catch the reader's attention are those with references to the "Mercy Ward" for which one of the writer's collections was similarly named. Edward Baugh writes of "Mercy Ward" in the introduction of Selected Poems, "the poems came out of the poet's observation of the patients in a Georgetown (Guyana) hospital "for the poorest of the poor"." In "The Place They Have to Go", the opening lines read "When someone checks into Mercy Ward/ One of the particulars you have to get/ Is what provision has been made/ For a burial cost nothing, net." While "Any Poem" does not allude to the "Mercy Ward", it is a poem that can inspire any poet to write because McDonald begins "You can make a poem about anything."
• "Late 1980s and After" in Selected Poems: The final period of this collection holds thirty-seven poems that encompass more themes in the poems over the works shared in the two earlier eras. The many characters still roam this era such as those written in "Canticle of the Main Street Madam", "MacArthur's Life" and "Mr. Perfection." The introspective nature of the writing is where the work in the late 1980s stands out. Example of poems where the writer becomes the main character sharing deep thoughts are "Silence", "Bread and Fish Hooks" and "Archive".

 As McDonald wrote in "Any Poem", poems can be written about life, death, beauty, great men and truth. The collection titled Selected Poems truly encompasses the sentiments of these words. The writer's anthology covers his work for over fifty years and offers the reader a personal glimpse through this poet's journey as a writer in the Caribbean.