I leave me people, me land, me home
For reasons I not too sure
I forsake de sun
And de humming-bird splendour
Had big rats in de floorboard
So I pick up me new-world-self
And come to this place call England
At first I feeling like I in a dream—
De misty greyness
I touching the walls to see if they real
They solid to de seam
And de people pouring from de underground system
Like beans
And when I look up to de sky
I see Lord Nelson high—too high to lie.
And is so I sending home photos of myself
Among de pigeons and de snow
And is so I warding off de cold
And is so, little by little
I begin to change my calypso ways
Never visiting nobody
Before giving them clear warning
And waiting me turn in queue
Now, after all this time
I get accustom to de English life
But I still miss back-home side
To tell you de truth
I don't know really where I belaang
Yes, divided to de ocean
Divided to de bone
Wherever I hang me knickers - that's my home.
Grace Nichols is a Guyanese poet, and her poem, "Wherever I Hang," discusses her migration from Guyana to London. Her journey is one that is characterized by the length it takes for her to feel as though she is finally able to view London as her home, and she presents some of the obstacles that made it difficult for her to feel 'at home' in London.
Lines 19-20 of her poem is quite important, it reads, “And is so, little by little / I begin to change my calypso ways.” Here, Nichols demonstrates that after enough time has passed, she manages to adapt to the new culture that surrounds her.
Line 24 reads, “Now, after all this time” This line, though very short, and seemingly meaningless out of context, shows that a lot of time has passed, and in that important period of time, Nichols has reflected on both her journey and her destination. This line serves to assure readers that the conclusions she comes to by the end of her poem have been thoroughly thought over.
Lines 28-29 reads, “To tell you the truth / I don’t really know where I belaang.” After a long time getting used to London and being away from her original home, she begins to feel at home again—but the process was not a short one, it took a long time for her to feel comfortable.
The meaning in lines 28-29 is further cemented upon reaching line 31 of the poem, which reads, “Wherever I hang me knickers—that’s my home.” This final line demonstrates that Nichols has managed to turn London into her home after a lot of time and effort.
Grace Nichols' poem relates to the imagist movement simply in light of the imagery which can be found throughout her poem. The imagist movement is characterized by the utilization of precise, specific words/images in order to ensure that readers can grasp, and fully understand the thoughts that are being conveyed. She describes many things in her poem which elicit a response, prompting us to visualize her very visions which she describes.
Works Cited:
Greenblatt, Stephen, and Jahan Ramazani. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 9th ed., F, W.W. Norton & Company, 2018.