RICHARD ‘DINGO’ DINGWALL

We made our way down from the hills.
The taste, lost,
somewhere, amid dense undergrowth
and loose stones.

Distant drumming, gradually ceding
to the mutterings of unreasonable mirrors.
No discernable grace in the brutish nap,
the firm arch of the nostrils.

The Blind:

Expunging precious pigment
to fashion new camouflage,
now shades of themselves,
rootless, indigenous to the day.

The Meek:

Sold on the scriptures of joy on layaway,
blindly await their inheritance,
but sequels are usually contrived.

The Jaded:

Unceremoniously peel and dash weh the bump
yet to receive word of their own passing.
The tongues and the fight
swaddled in the pining silence of the abeng.

And lost, in this desecration of visceral treaties,
is you my queen.
Yu Blue Mountains famous,
but only fi di brew,
yet yu children sleep,
content to fail history
strings weakened like untuned djembe
fireless, like your mythical cauldrons,
unable to conceive you.
But heng on in deh queen, di magic still strong,
cah you still deh pon 500 strong,
when black heroes, these days,
slowly turning into small change.

Richard “DINGO” Dingwall started writing in 1994 joining the Jamaica Poetry Society in 1995. He recorded the CD “Ransom” in 2000, his own blend of music and poetry. Performed on Reggae Sumfest 2001 with the (original) Zinc Fence Band and on the revival of Reggae Sunsplash 2006. Video for the song “Earth Speaks” off the Album, (Directed by Delano Forbes) voted  video of The year by the Caribbean Broadcasting Union 2002. Featured Poet on the Calabash Literary Festival in 2002. Featured on the Word Alive Literary festival in St Lucia 2013. Performed on the “Jamaica Rising” event in Bristol UK to Honor Jamaica’s Poet Laureate, Professor Mervyn Morris in 2014.

After a very long hiatus from writing, he has recently finished his manuscript for his first collection.