The very title of this poetry collection immediately introduces us to its complex world – a world that is at the same time reduced to the basic categories which define a person’s existence. Kei Miller, acclaimed Jamaican poet living in Great Britain, focuses on Jamaica as a socio-historical reality and as a legend, symbol and a myth – refracted through the viewpoint of historiography and pop-culture. Miller also portrays the outward view of Jamaica marked by postcolonialism which crucially shaped its perception. Rastafari and reggae-culture are combined with the slaves’ legends and slave owners’ narratives, patois of the impoverished ghettoes with the refined literary standard. The history of the oppressed in this exciting poetic journey finally writes its own geography: it mapped its own thorny path towards personal and collective freedom.

“In this striking poetry collection, a poem about the indestructibility of human spirit glimmers like flames in darkness.” – Poetry London

“Kei Miller’s latest collection cements his status as one of the most sensitive and most exciting poets in Scotland.” – The Scotsman

“Raise high the roofbeams, here comes a strong new presence in poetry…. Kei Miller’s voice speaks and sings with rare confidence and authority.” – Lorna Goodison, Jamaican poet and professor, University of Michigan