JONATHAN SAMUELS
The Inner Child Lives
2022
Medium: Mixed Media Poetry
This photo is a homage to my Jamaican roots and most importantly acts as a souvenir from my personal journey of healing the inner child.
Photo Description: At the center of the photo is a page from the charter of the human rights code. The scenery is set to be looking out from the inside of a cave which is outlined in black paint creating the dark side of hills at the bottom and trees and surrounding flora around the sides and top of the image. The backdrop colours are green and yellow; all the colours coming together make the colours of the Jamaican flag. The flowers in purple/ lavender are ‘lignum vitae’ which are the national and a native flower of the island jamaica. They represent “wood of life” because of their properties and use in medicinal practices. All the lines from the human rights page highlighted read,
“men are equal in terms of basic human dignity and basic obligations and responsibilities, without any discrimination on the grounds of race,”“All human beings are God’s subjects”“Life is a God-given gift and the right to life is guaranteed to every human being.”“The preservation of human life throughout the term of time willed by God”“ONE LOVE , words and music by Bob Marley”
These lines are significant because to me they reflect inclusiveness as a whale for all peoples and in my own experiences, love has always been the solution to difficult times. All these elements come together in a seamless way to represent culturally that I have always learnt to be inclusive no matter what, although you may be different it shouldn’t affect how you are treated or what you are capable of.
Poem 1
SWEAT BEFORE SUNRISE
The fog strokes the earth in total darkness
As light comes to land
Rays of blue and red turn into orange and yellow
Drawing on the surfaces like the slime of a snail
The inch worm sits on the tree branch
Watching the leaves hang and sway
In the vast empty that is the sky
As the sun and the earth's horizon say goodbye one more time
The slow impact of a moment is captured by those whose eyes can see it
Insects and birds alike sound the alarm for the rise
The clouds in military fashion undress the sky to reveal
That which is hot and fiery
Displaying what beautiful fury is
How can danger be so soothing but so mysterious
Rays of energy creep over mountains and on the hills
Cascading gently into valleys,
filling and embracing the nooks and crannies of the never ending terrain
Its feeling, a cloak resembling a hold from all around
Awakening the blades of grass that worship in the wind
Whistling and singing the song of sunrise
The dew covered oasis begins to come to life,
mouths that drink tap at the surface of the nearby river
Ambiguous to one another, the grazers begin their sunrise routine
The suns rays bounce around and gives life to all that sleeps,
Cracked eyes, opened jaws, summoned by an end to a new beginning,
the time of the early riser
Just like the water on a duck's back,
the dew rolls and boils escaping into the air
climbing towards the beyond,
Streams tickle rocks as they descend from summits in the sky
Pooling, pouring, pushing, particle on particle
Spinning whirlpools and algae alike
Where deep sea creatures reside,
The sun casts a gentle touch
Giving to them, just enough
The seaweed dances slowly
In concert with the fish
they peak and hide
Like a game of hide and seek with a shadow
Swim away for the day is new
This is sweat before sunrise
Poem 2
Domestic Immigrant
I’m a domestic immigrant
Does my accent confuse you
Does my colonized voice shock you ?
Is there something wrong with how I carry myself
Don’t be sorry , it’s not like they teach you anymore than that where you’re from
where I’m from, we think all of you are white
Tell me again, what should I sound like
I should treat you like you’re on vacation
I am black, did they not teach you about colour theory in art class
What a laugh huh, ha
What a riot
What a way these people think I’m to make a fool of myself for a moment of hysterics
Class clown , then and now
This time I’m not deciding
Cheerleader ? Yes because this is how I’m different
Did you do that back we’re you’re from?
Your tone suggests that it’s impossible. And you’re totally right
Stay cool, answer calmly
Remember what mommy said,
she’s raising a young gentleman
School, taken for granted not enough support like mommy used to give and all this newness is fascinating,
if only the right people had shown themselves
before the burnt bridges had laid their foundation ,
What time work start !!??
Another day another dollar spent
This tim hortons iced Capp is serious business
What about an actual job where people pretend to like me, let’s do it, nursing can wait
And boy did I dodge a bullet. And miss out at the same time
Work work work
Every mickle Mek a muckle
Have you surfed before? Does a couch count ?
Homeless.
Thank you friend, forever in your debt
Rex, stop trying to keep everyone in the box, help open it and break it down
We don’t want to use it unless we’re moving into the house of dreams
Rising from the bottom going up, the sky doesn’t limit me
But it’s my stairway to glory
my ascensions to my higher purpose
This life of mine
A journey that was once guided is now my own
What will I make of it, who will benefit
Can I give and give and not receive
But I have received and keep on receiving
and I give and keep giving
It’s a cycle of trust and a rodeo of trials
ARTIST | Jonathan Samuels
Jonathan is a Canadian Jamaican writer with a tonne of ambition and a lot of love. Before working in the Jayu sphere, he sought to implement change by working with groups that are marginalized inToronto. He has devoted time to being a supports person in the 2SLGBTQ+ Community and an agent for increase in Black-Youth community engagements, through work done in the Rexdale community. He has a multitude of interests including writing, which is also one of his passions. “Writing has always been an outlet for me and a way to express my true nature. My version of poetry writing translates into storytelling. I wish for any of my readers to see my perspective through my imagery and tone, bringing to them something they may relate to or that my words may course their veins like a river flows”.
ARTIST MENTOR | Em Dial
Em Dial is a queer, triracial, chronically ill poet, grower, and educator born and raised on Ohlone land in the Bay Area, currently living in Tkaronto. A2022 Kundiman Fellow and recipient of the 2020PEN Canada New Voices Award and the 2019 MaryC. Mohr Poetry Award, her work also appears or is forthcoming from the Literary Review of Canada,Tinderbox Poetry Journal, Sonora Review, and elsewhere.