The Entrant: An Anthology of Poems

The Entrant and Other Poems traces the life of the poet from his early days in the then British Colony of Trinidad and Tobago to the present time. Insights into his experiences as a Catholic student priest at the Archdiocesan seminary in the sixties, experiences as a black power activist and his involvement in African based spiritual practices during the early seventies, his recommitment to Christ as the central figure of his life in the mid-seventies and onwards are captured in this anthology. The anthology is divided into six sections, Early Days, Student Priest, Black Power Days, Moments, Transition and In Christ.

Early Days celebrates the poet’s life on an island then ruled by Britain, a reality of which he and his childhood friends were hardly aware. This section celebrates the phenomenon of Play and the dimension of Innocence. It is followed by the section, The Entrant, which traces his entry as a student priest into the seminary, his inner struggles to cope with contradictions experienced, his “dark night of the soul” and mystical experience, and his ‘loss of faith’. Black Power Days marks the poet’s involvement in the Black Power movement of the early seventies in Trinidad and Tobago, underpinned by his role as cultural officer of the National Joint Action Committee (NJAC) to which reference is made in the poem, From the Palais, in the section Transition. The section, Moments, is the poet’s expression of various themes which do not necessarily fit into the otherwise autobiographical outline of the anthology. Transition captures the poet’s involvement in the Shango Baptist (now known as Orisha) African based belief system and subsequently the Shouter Baptist church, largely Christian in orientation with elements of African retentions. In Christ celebrates the poet’s recommitment to the Lord of his life.