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Coral Lyrics by Kamau Brathwaite

Humboldt Caribbean Lit

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Brathwaite's reading of this poem can be heard on SoundCloud, or by opening this annotation
CoralA yellow mote of sand dreams in the polyp's eye;
the coral needs this pain.
Look closely:
the pearl has limestone ridges, hills,
out of it grows the sun
and the fat valleys of Haiti,
deep mourning waters under the mornes.
The coral killers crust my wall of bone
make feet for footprints on this first beach;
cold sea of sound splinters the fishes' dawn;
it rings bells in the shingle
it curls messages into the shell
it cuts mе coconut branches
it tugs, whorls, it pushes
me, it tеaches me how to swim
at midday it sparkles with screams and the sprats' silver.
Even when I was a slave here
I could hear the polyp's thunder
crack of the brain's armour
the ducts and factories sucking
the rivers out, engineering
their courses, as if the stone
were a secret leaf, or a fist curled
in embryo slowly uncurling.
The land rises slowly
fed by the ringed sun and the distant Amazon:
leaves, seed, silt, feathers,
broken wings, hooks, clutching eyes,
bugs, green-backed bats, leeches;
mud is a milk of darkness that feeds
orchids, roots that scramble outward like spiders,
tendrils that spin, weeds that hoot in their harness.
Here now are canoes, huts, yellowing corn husks, cassava,
hard harpoon heads, broken pots on the headland;
broken by time, by neglect, the tough boots
of Columbus, of pirate, the red boots of flame;
cracked soles of Africa, broken by whip,
bit of pain between teeth; broken by rain,
the new shoots of the green-dollar cane.
But the coral builds
quarries, explosions,
limestone walls,
bougainvillea churches, plantation halls,
and the morning rides higher and higher;
chapel bells bringing freedom's
dark clash, bayonet's clangour of iron
on chain, Bogle's legs swinging steep from their steeple of pain,
dead clapper, dead leader, dead bell,
leaden tongue, the snapped neck
slacker and slacker,
the narrow dead of the islands
chalk chalk
bone burning to limestone,
hills, porous tears, showers;
rain unhooks flowers,
green stars
of the soil stare up from the stalks,
the sky glints in the wet mud
streaked with trees,
hedges, darker
ponds. I hear the boom
of the mango bursting its sweetness, spectacular
cloud riders through the tall
pouis: walls of white,
walls of red, stations
of bloom, wells
of bottomless
gloom.
And slowly slowly
uncurling embryo
leaf's courses sucking grain's armour,
my yellow pain swims into the polyp's eye.
Credits
Kamau Brathwaite

Kamau Brathwaite

About “Coral” by Kamau Brathwaite

Read the complete lyrics to "Coral" by Kamau Brathwaite from the album "Humboldt Caribbean Lit". On Lyrks you can follow along with the full text, explore the artist's discography, and discover related songs. The track is often categorized under Poetry, Spoken Word, Non-Music.

"Coral" is performed by Kamau Brathwaite. from the album "Humboldt Caribbean Lit" This page provides the full lyric text for fans who want to sing along, study the songwriting, or compare versions across releases. Lyrks organizes lyrics by artist and song slug so you can bookmark and share a stable URL. Music lyrics help listeners connect with emotion, narrative, and rhythm in a track. Whether you are learning English, researching a favorite chorus, or preparing for karaoke, having accurate line breaks and section labels (verse, chorus, bridge) makes the experience easier. We link to the official artist profile on Lyrks where available, including biography snippets, top songs, and chart placements when we have that data. If you enjoy "Coral", explore more songs by Kamau Brathwaite using the links below. Chart and trending pages on Lyrks highlight what listeners are searching for this week. For copyright or correction requests, see our DMCA and contact pages.

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Frequently asked questions

"Coral" is credited to Kamau Brathwaite. Songwriting credits may include additional writers listed on the release; check the credits section on this page for linked collaborators.

"Coral" appears on "Humboldt Caribbean Lit".

Visit the Kamau Brathwaite artist page at /artist/kamau-brathwaite for biography, popular tracks, and links to more lyric pages.