110 contemporary poetry
poems’, Mutabaruka’s poem is both a call to arms – ‘dis poem is
knives... bombs... guns’ – as well as a call for unifi cation of
African nations, becoming a drum uniting the languages of ‘ashanti
/ mau mau / ibo / yoruba’. Mutabaruka also plays with paradoxes
and contradictions in his work. Initially he delights in the poem’s
status as countercultural since ‘dis poem will not be amongst great
literary works’, neither will it be ‘recited by poetry enthusiasts’,
‘quoted by politicians / nor men of religion’. Later we are informed
that ‘dis poem’ is a sampling from ‘the bible / the prayer book / the
new york times, reader’s digest as well as the cia and kgb fi les’. The
poet insists that ‘dis poem’ is not inscribed between the covers of a
book; instead it is an ongoing conversation, a ‘speakin’ which will
continue on the stage of world history. Mutabaruka’s poem stresses
an immediacy which will survive history and be disseminated to an
audience to ‘continue in your mind’.
Linton Kwesi Johnson takes the element of spontaneity inher-
ent in dub poetry and combines it with a belligerent reportage in
his ‘Di Great Insohreckshan’.^28 Responding to the Brixton riots
of 1981 , Johnson’s use of ‘Insohreckshan’ uses nation language as
a way of offering a further perspective upon newspaper reports
as well as a vehement critique of British hierarchies of power.
Nation language enables Johnson to undermine the authority of
English language’s association with ideals of sovereignty. Brixton
becomes a site of ‘histarical okayjan’ whose unrest spreads ‘ovah di
naeshan’ in the face of ‘oppreshan’ (p. 271 ). In this poem Johnson
also inverts associations by juxtaposing the sovereign beliefs of
nationhood and a British identity with the power and necessity of
insurrection and revolt:
dem a taak bout di powah an di glory
dem a taak bout di burnin an di lootin
dem a taak bout smashin an di grabbin
dem a tell mi bout di vanquish an di victri (p. 271 )The poem offers a further and alternative perspective on the story
of the Brixton’s rioting. Johnson’s emphasis upon the urban space
as ‘di ghetto grapevine’ (p. 271 ), offers an imprint of the disen-
franchised community. Moreover, the incorporation of terms and