for Gaboo, music man
1948-2014
You were our first star
maestro of Broglie Street
your piano flourishes cascading down the evening —
and all those escapades
all those capsules of remembrances
turning up childhood sidewalks;
the old school room is still there, greening
near the square belfry and same dilapidated cemetery;
wise ghosts of our teachers
are scouting the yard for you,
you, re-arranging their overtures,
playing down the tracks,
skanking your own riddim;
Why does news of your death surprise me music man,
surprise me with my love for you
my first star, my-mate,
Gabriel Mondesir?
~ John Robert Lee
John Robert Lee is a writer of prose, poetry, journalism; a librarian; and a former radio and television broadcaster. His latest publications are ‘elemental: new and selected poems, 1975-2007’ ( Peepal Tree Press, 2008), ‘Sighting and other poems of faith’ (Mahanaim, 2013) and ‘Bibliography of St. Lucian Creative writing: 1948-2013’ (Mahanaim, 2013). His bibliography of Caribbean literature is available here.