PAD Challenge Day 9: Carne Vale (Carnival)

PAD Challenge Day 9: Write an ekphrasis poem.

Carne Vale (Carnival)

African ancestors

said farewell to bondage

so that the Caribbean

children of today

could celebrate their freedom

with their heads high covered

in sequins hats and bejeweled tiaras;

bodies draped with

embellished body suits,

bras and belts,

with feather leg bands

and colorful angel and

butterfly wings to match.

This is one traditional ceremony

the slave master will never

get to kidnap, rape, or execute.

The Eastern, Western and

Southern Caribbean,

the Greater and Lesser Antilles,

the Netherlands Antilles,

the Windward and Lewward Islands,

the French and British West Indies,

and the Mexican Caribbean

share kinship with the sweet

Motherland’s Bongo and Conga drums,

the steelpans, calypso, and

soca of Trinidad and Tobago

and the reggae of Jamaica.

Their flags will dance

with pride as they sing

“one love, one heart”

through high and low

waters and winds,

under the scorching

rays of the sun

and mellow moonlights.

They will harvest tempos

for their blood and bones

to speak dutty wine,

mambo, merenuge,

and daggering then

bruk it down as they parade

independently with joy!

D’ElegantOne

Carvinal painting taken in Nassau, Bahamas, circa 2016