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Dawn Lyrics by Kamau Brathwaite

Humboldt Caribbean Lit

0

Brathwaite's reading of this poem can be heard on SoundCloud, or by opening this annotation
Dawn1Lips
lips
salt slick of the sea
water
tap of its time on the ground
shore
the pebbles of silence
lap
lap
of my mother
and the eyes of my father
rising
rising
the sea in its splendour
plentiful fishes
crowds, brilliant multitudes of wet
colour
the pool
ying cool in its green
corner
dolour of distances
horizons
sails
fishermen's songs
pails
slop of their catches
the dawn
blinds, open eyes,
hands groping for prayer
flowers knowing
the sun-
light
hump-
backs out of the eye
lands, my is-
lands
red clay
mud of volcanoes
bristled with jewels
rot of word
stone, water's opposition
your lips
face on my face
cheek to my stone
sheet, green
energies, cuts
rivers, delicate
fingers, tongs
of a sound, sudden blue flowings
the street's avalanche of bicycle bells
claxons, screams,
flags over Kingston ...
2The piston
engine dreams
of a kerosene god; hell
here is a black wick without whisper
of flame; red flowerings
of horsemen rise into chrysanthemum heat; the young
know no older love than a fat-bottomed dissolute sister; the plates
in the kitchen are cracked into green, ganjarene. Rut
rut rut me you pig of pain, you
mean anger, tapper of marrow, bone
snapper; your face is my face,
your lips suckle my parasites; sit
still you bisexual cycler: passion
of the bread broken, the east rising in its blood;
what prayers will assuage these jewels
my eyes, the laid-out islands, roses
stripped naked in the dew? What prayers
will reprieve the cold fever of the day-
light, thin man, knocking at doors, smile
sharpened by the rats, tin can
of pisstilence, scruffulent scrubber,
saviour of the harbour's sepulchres of filth.
Lock me dead in your eye
as the cock crows: red rain of urine falls slowly on the is-
lands; the dump
heaps sprout pain again and again: guer-
rillas of green duck-
ing under the twisted barb-wired night
and the sun
cunning
cannon of flowers, swaying
swaying: sip sop, sweet sop, sour sapodilla's eyes
the eyes of the prawns
in the basket, tickless in death, water's wristwatch;
the wails
coming up from the gullies,
frog songs
the mouth-organ drool of the snails'
slow passage, discretion, through zones
that the hummingbird's swiftness
that is stillness, knows not, knows not;
and the lourd
hedgehog, following the mongoose and the mangrove trail, reaches the green
pool
lured
by the birth pangs of bubbles
the silt slow wet
of the mosquito's malarial reaches
3Till the sun enters fine, enters fine, enters fin-
ally its growing circle of splendour
rising
rising
into the eyes of my father,
the fat valley loads of my mother
of water, lap-
ping, lapping my ankles, lap-
ping these shores with their silence:
insistence of pure
light, pure pouring of water
that opens the eyes of my window
And I see you, my wound-
ed gift giver of sea
spoken syllables: words salt on your lips
on my lips ...
Credits
Kamau Brathwaite

Kamau Brathwaite

About “Dawn” by Kamau Brathwaite

Read the complete lyrics to "Dawn" 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.

"Dawn" 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 "Dawn", 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

"Dawn" 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.

"Dawn" 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.