Island Man
ISLAND MAN
(for a Caribbean island man in London who still
wakes
up to the sound of the sea)
Morning
and island man wakes up
to the sound of blue surf
in his head
the steady breaking and wombing
wild seabirds
and fishermen pushing out to sea
the sun surfacing defiantly
from the east
of his small emerald island
he always comes back
groggily groggily
Comes back to sands
of a grey metallic soar
to surge of wheels
to dull North Circular roar
muffling muffling
his crumpled pillow waves
island man heaves himself
Another London day
Grace Nichols
Grace Nichols
Another London day
muffling muffling
his crumpled pillow waves
island man heaves himself
Comes back to sands
of a grey metallic soar
to surge of wheels
to dull North Circular roar
wild seabirds
and fishermen pushing out to sea
the sun surfacing defiantly
from the east
of his small emerald island
he always comes back
groggily groggily
Morning
and island man wakes up
to the sound of blue surf
in his head
the steady breaking and wombing
(for a Caribbean island man in London who still wakes
up to the sound of the sea)
Island Man
The shape
of the poem
looks like
the skyline
of a city.
Island Man
(for a Caribbean island man in London who still wakes
up to the sound of the sea)
Caribbean
Dream
?
London
Reality
?
Morning
and island man wakes up
to the sound of blue surf
in his head
the steady breaking and wombing
wild seabirds
and fishermen pushing out to sea
the sun surfacing defiantly
from the east
of his small emerald island
he always comes back
groggily groggily
Comes back to sands
of a grey metallic soar
to surge of wheels
to dull North Circular roar
muffling muffling
his crumpled pillow waves
island man heaves himself
Another London day
Grace Nichols
The poem is
split into two
parts. They are
split by the line
“groggily
groggily”.
The first part
is about the
Caribbean and
the Island
Man’s dream.
The second part
is about his life
in London, it is
reality.
Morning
and island man wakes up
to the sound of blue surf
in his head
the steady breaking and wombing
Wombing is a
word
associated
with
motherhood.
He feels like a
belongs in the
Caribbean.
Nichols uses very natural images to
describe the island.
wild seabirds
and fishermen pushing out to sea
the sun surfacing defiantly
from the east
of his small emerald island
he always comes back
groggily groggily
The word “emerald”
suggests that the
island is precious. It
is very important to
the island man.
he always comes back
groggily groggily
The line “groggily
groggily” is set off
to one side. This
suggests that the
man is waking up
and moving from
one location to
another.
London is described as “grey”. This
suggests it is dull and contrasts the
island which is described as “blue” and
“emerald”.
Comes back to sands
of a grey metallic soar
to surge of wheels
to dull North Circular roar
The word “heaves” suggests that
the man is finding it difficult to
get out of bed.
muffling muffling
his crumpled pillow waves
island man heaves himself
Another London day
The last line of the poem is on
its own. This suggests that
the island man feels isolated
in London.
The capital letters show the
formality of London compared
to the Caribbean.
The word “another” shows his
life his repetitive and boring.