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The Forest 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
The Forest1Like walls the forest stops us.
Over the ford at Yeji it was waiting:
tangled squat mahogany out-
riders and then the dense, the
dark green tops, bright
shining standing trunks:
wawa, dahoma, esa and
odum; the doom
of the thick stretching green.
Leaves gathered darkness; no
pathway showed the way.
The trunks grew tall and
taller, dark and darker; earth
now damp, fern cool, moss
soft. We hacked our way
through root and tendril, climber
shoot and yellow clinger. This
was the pistil journey in-
to moistened gloom. Dews
dripped, lights twink-
led, crickets chirped and still
the dark was silence, still
the dark was home. We
scorched, we raked, we
settled; cleared path,
cut clearing, burnt the dry rot
out of withered wood to make this farm.
And at night, so that no harm
would come from dark still heavy on us,
made this fire: fire-
flies from sticks, from cinders; and we
sang:
in praise of those who journey
those who find the way
those who clear the path
those who go on before us
to prepare the way.
We sang of warmth and fires,
bodies touching, eyes of embers, watching.
Where are the open spaces now
clear sky, the stars, horizons’ distances?
We sang of warmth and fires,
bodies safe and touching.
2But the lips remember
temples, gods and pharaohs,
gold, silver ware; imagination
rose on wide unfolded wings.
But here in the dark,
we rest:
time to forget
the kings;
time to forget
the gods.
That fat man
with the fire-
light's grease
that dances
on his belly---
belly button
bunged---is he
the king
or glutton?
He lives
on human
blood
and dies
in human
blood;
our empire's
past of stone
and skulls
demands it.
And Ra,
the sun
god’s gold,
demanded blood
to make it
sacred.
Time to forget
these kings.
Time to forget
these gods.
The jewelled sun
Has splintered
on these leaves.
The moon-
light rusts.
Only the frogs wear jewels
here; the cricket's chirp is
emerald; the praying mantis'
topaz pleases; and termites'
tunnel eyes illuminate the dark.
No sphinx eyes close and dream
us of our destiny; the desert
drifting certainties outside us.
Here leaf eyes shift, twigs
creak, buds flutter, the stick
becomes a snake; uncertainties adrift
within us.
3So praise the new eyes,
leaves' butterflies, flies'
sympathy; the dark trees
understand.
Raise the mantis face, my
brother; mother tree, your
rough bark mocks me
but we understand.
For night of leaves and leaves
of stars and stars' winked darkness
is a new world of discovered here;
new world of time and time's uncertainty.
4So that with new warm arms the forest holds us.
From this womb’d heaven comes the new curled god
with goblin old man’s grinning, flat face smiling,
crouched like a frog with monkey hands and
insect fingers. This we will carve and carry
with our cooking pots, wood mud and wattle;
symbol sickness fetish for our sickness.
For man eats god, eats life, eats world, eats wickedness.
This we now know, this we digest and hold;
this gives us bone and sinews, saliva grease and sweat;
this we can shit. And that no doubt will ever hit
us, the worm's mischance defeat us, dark roots
of time move in our way to trip us; look, we dance.
Credits
Kamau Brathwaite

Kamau Brathwaite

About “The Forest” by Kamau Brathwaite

Read the complete lyrics to "The Forest" 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 Non-Music, Spoken Word, Poetry.

"The Forest" 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 "The Forest", 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

"The Forest" 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.

"The Forest" 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.