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Selected Poems of Linton Kwesi Johnson
A selection of Linton Kwesi Johnson's best poems over three decades. Ranging from protests against police brutality to eulogies for departed friends and playful celebrations of urban life, Johnson's use of Jamaican dialect to tackle distinctly British subjects contributed to a revolution in the notion of literary English. This Selected Poems charts the unique literary talent of one of Britain's most influential poets and social critics.
128 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2006
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About the author
Linton Kwesi Johnson
20 books47 followersLinton Kwesi Johnson (aka LKJ, born 24 August 1952) is a UK-based Jamaican-British dub poet. In 2002 he became the second living poet, and the only black poet, to be published in the Penguin Modern Classics series.[1][2] His performance poetry involves the recitation of his own verse in Jamaican Patois over dub-reggae, usually written in collaboration with renowned British reggae producer/artist Dennis Bovell. Johnson's middle name, "Kwesi", is a Ghanaian name that is given to boys who, like Johnson, are born on a Sunday.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
February 25, 2021
"di innocent an di fool could paas fi twin" (p.72)
As someone who doesn't particularly enjoy poetry at the best of times, Linton Kwesi Johnson's "Selected Poems" is nothing short of phenomenal. Here, we have 109 pages of pure literature, written in Jamaican creole about the Jamaican experience.
Firstly, I wanna talk about something that a lot of poem collections get wrong. The order the poetry is laid out. The order here goes from Johnson's works through the 1970s through to the 1990s, discussing the concepts of early reggae and violence, the New Cross Massacre of 1981 and the effects of Swamp 81 on citizens.
This was a clever way to showcase Johnson's progress and evolution as both a writer and a thinker. For example, in the second section of the book, Johnson writes of "Mi Revalueshanary Fren" (p.67), an individual who adores communism, holding knowledge of socialist states and leaders. Johnson doesn't understand what he is being taught but agrees out of respect. By the third extract, Johnson is now writing poems for activists, specifically "Reggae fi May Ayim" (p.91), an ode to an "afro-German warrior woman" who pushed for black rights before her untimely suicide. Johnson is undergoing a process, one that is present in much of the black conscious of the time, and it is evident in his text.
Of course there remains an obvious tragedy underneath the rhythm and rhyme. Johnson begins as an angry youth and matures into a literary activist, and this is seen in some of the titles of his earlier works. The third poem is labelled "Dread Beat on Blood" (p.5) and sparks up an interesting dialogue regarding the ways in which "Bass Culture" (p.14) (the name of a separate poem) induces violence among black teens. This is prominent in the longer poem, "Five Nights of Bleeding follows", a song that outlines the catalyst effect that is prominent within music and black-on-black violence. It is also present on his album 'Dread Beat on Blood" like many of the poems from this first section. I couldn't recommend it more. You can hear the anger in Johnson's voice and the power he invokes as an individual.
However, there remains a hidden tragedy within this selection. Come the 90s section, the final selection of poems, there is a shift. Johnson opens with "Seasons of the Heart" (p.83), a poem that questions love and life. Interestingly, it is the only poem not written in Johnson's native creole, an attempt to move away from the anger and animosity felt in the earlier works. However, we shortly return to his natural dialect, with a few poems following regarding Odes. Then comes, "If I Woz a Tap-Natch Poet" (p.94). Johnson has recognised by the 90s his best form of resistance is becoming an individual, rather than remaining part of the mass. And this remains such a tragedy. Not only because the break away from the mass is both a movement of solidarity and necessity, but because Johnson remains a fantastic poet in his own right. "Seasons of the Heart" is not a bad poem by any stretch, but seeing an active attempt to move away from his roots is painful to see, especially when the poem stands out like a sore thumb.
Johnson is a master wordsmith and like a true reggae lyricist, his relationship with rhythm and rhyme remain unmatched, using these forms to tackle serious issues and troubles facing the young black psyche. If you haven't, give some of his 70s music a listen, it will grant such an insight into the bubbling anger that was prevalent in the Windrush generations. Furthermore, if you can give yourself some time to read some of these poems, do. They're worth every second of your time and remain emphatic, powerful and moving. Easily 5 out of 5.
As someone who doesn't particularly enjoy poetry at the best of times, Linton Kwesi Johnson's "Selected Poems" is nothing short of phenomenal. Here, we have 109 pages of pure literature, written in Jamaican creole about the Jamaican experience.
Firstly, I wanna talk about something that a lot of poem collections get wrong. The order the poetry is laid out. The order here goes from Johnson's works through the 1970s through to the 1990s, discussing the concepts of early reggae and violence, the New Cross Massacre of 1981 and the effects of Swamp 81 on citizens.
This was a clever way to showcase Johnson's progress and evolution as both a writer and a thinker. For example, in the second section of the book, Johnson writes of "Mi Revalueshanary Fren" (p.67), an individual who adores communism, holding knowledge of socialist states and leaders. Johnson doesn't understand what he is being taught but agrees out of respect. By the third extract, Johnson is now writing poems for activists, specifically "Reggae fi May Ayim" (p.91), an ode to an "afro-German warrior woman" who pushed for black rights before her untimely suicide. Johnson is undergoing a process, one that is present in much of the black conscious of the time, and it is evident in his text.
Of course there remains an obvious tragedy underneath the rhythm and rhyme. Johnson begins as an angry youth and matures into a literary activist, and this is seen in some of the titles of his earlier works. The third poem is labelled "Dread Beat on Blood" (p.5) and sparks up an interesting dialogue regarding the ways in which "Bass Culture" (p.14) (the name of a separate poem) induces violence among black teens. This is prominent in the longer poem, "Five Nights of Bleeding follows", a song that outlines the catalyst effect that is prominent within music and black-on-black violence. It is also present on his album 'Dread Beat on Blood" like many of the poems from this first section. I couldn't recommend it more. You can hear the anger in Johnson's voice and the power he invokes as an individual.
However, there remains a hidden tragedy within this selection. Come the 90s section, the final selection of poems, there is a shift. Johnson opens with "Seasons of the Heart" (p.83), a poem that questions love and life. Interestingly, it is the only poem not written in Johnson's native creole, an attempt to move away from the anger and animosity felt in the earlier works. However, we shortly return to his natural dialect, with a few poems following regarding Odes. Then comes, "If I Woz a Tap-Natch Poet" (p.94). Johnson has recognised by the 90s his best form of resistance is becoming an individual, rather than remaining part of the mass. And this remains such a tragedy. Not only because the break away from the mass is both a movement of solidarity and necessity, but because Johnson remains a fantastic poet in his own right. "Seasons of the Heart" is not a bad poem by any stretch, but seeing an active attempt to move away from his roots is painful to see, especially when the poem stands out like a sore thumb.
Johnson is a master wordsmith and like a true reggae lyricist, his relationship with rhythm and rhyme remain unmatched, using these forms to tackle serious issues and troubles facing the young black psyche. If you haven't, give some of his 70s music a listen, it will grant such an insight into the bubbling anger that was prevalent in the Windrush generations. Furthermore, if you can give yourself some time to read some of these poems, do. They're worth every second of your time and remain emphatic, powerful and moving. Easily 5 out of 5.
June 1, 2014
This is one of those rare collections where I seem to like all the poems a lot. That is the skill of the selection because I know of poems I like less. He is well served too in the introduction by Fred D'Aguier, including a technical appraisal as follows: "More ofen than not his lines begin with a trochee and the poems sustain a rhyme scheme locked to a few rhyming sounds, same word sounds or word endings, rather like the ballad, the sestina or villanelle. His poetry is an epicure of this familiar metre and rhyme served up into a reggae rhythm. LKJ's English language, seasoned by Jamaican creole, extends the range of the poet's palate with a certain directness, viscosity and muscularity of creole verb forms and compound words." That sort of makes it official, don't you think? LKJ puts all this well, when asserting "mi gat mi riddim / mi gat mi rime / mi gat mi ruff base line / mi gat mi own sense a time."
The status of the Jamaican way of speaking is a discussion item. Wikipedia thinks it is best described as a "patois" rather than creole or pidgin, though they are related. What matters is that it is a consistent style which was in daily use among young Black people of West Indian roots living in South East London during the Seventies and presumably no less so today. It takes no great effort to interpret on the page but it is good to hear it spoken as well, and I was fortunate to encounter LKJ when I lived in that area decades ago, and a daughter of mine encountered him in 2013 at a festival. It seems to me that this poetry stands out because it is performed live, often very effectively with music, but also as poetry, and it holds an audience as though in the presence of greatness.
LKJ is not setting out his stall as a "Tap natch poet." "still, / mi naw goh bow an scrape / an gwaan like a ape / peddlin noh parchment af etnicity / wid ongle a vaig fleetin hint af hawtenticity..." He makes few concession in this selection to the timeless topics that represent a syllabus for the proper poet, tackling life, death, love and war as if they were standard exam questions. Even his elegy for his father - Reggae fi Dada - is more political than personal. [His seemingly political elegy for the late Black MP Bernie Grant, on the other hand, was touchingly personal to my mind, showing for him a level of affection and respect that was certainly never afforded him by the mainstream media.] His poems are political and his best poems are typically very specific to their time and place, which is the only way art can ever aspire to be universal.
Perhaps readers do require footnotes for the individual people and events that are the subject of his poems - I think the notes supplied will suffice. That is not the case for the audiences he spoke to when they were written nor for those who remember them still. He wrote poems because he was relevant and he articulated very real and passionate opinions for his own community, with which he definitely did identify. Quite simply, he was and still is an activist, a poet who can use his art with all the impact of a political poster campaign. His poems seem to me as iconic as some of the great posters. Di Great Insohreckhsan is not how the establishment want to remember 1981 in Brixton: "..di plastic bullit and di waatah cannon / will bring a bam bam / will bring a bam bam / nevah mind Scarman..." but it is how local people are likely to remember it. Sonny's Lettah is a hugely effective protest at the "Sus" law, which frankly retains its relevance in 2014 despite so many superficial changes to the law and to the way the community is policed. It is still Black people getting stopped and searched and they are getting radicalised still by that experience. If we fail to police by consent, then we fail. It Dread inna Inglan complains of a wrongful conviction. "dem frame up George Lindo / up in Bradford Toun / but di Bradford Blacks / dem a rally roun..." New Cross Massakah describes painfully well the arson attack that killed 14 youngsters trapped in a house party. "is a helluva someting fi true ye know / wat a terrible price wi haffi pay dow, mah / jus fi live a likkle life / jus fi struggle fi survive /...../kyastin dis shadow af gloom owevah wi life..."
He does ponder, in Tings an Times, if things have changed for the better and he lists some that have: "time an fawchune been some a wi fren / now that we gat wi council flat / an wi dis an wi dat / wi collah tee vee an all di mad con..." He questions "do we need anadah moses / fi tek we craas di sea.." and concludes enigmatically enough: "somtimes di pungent owedah af decay / signal seh bran new life deh pan di way"
The status of the Jamaican way of speaking is a discussion item. Wikipedia thinks it is best described as a "patois" rather than creole or pidgin, though they are related. What matters is that it is a consistent style which was in daily use among young Black people of West Indian roots living in South East London during the Seventies and presumably no less so today. It takes no great effort to interpret on the page but it is good to hear it spoken as well, and I was fortunate to encounter LKJ when I lived in that area decades ago, and a daughter of mine encountered him in 2013 at a festival. It seems to me that this poetry stands out because it is performed live, often very effectively with music, but also as poetry, and it holds an audience as though in the presence of greatness.
LKJ is not setting out his stall as a "Tap natch poet." "still, / mi naw goh bow an scrape / an gwaan like a ape / peddlin noh parchment af etnicity / wid ongle a vaig fleetin hint af hawtenticity..." He makes few concession in this selection to the timeless topics that represent a syllabus for the proper poet, tackling life, death, love and war as if they were standard exam questions. Even his elegy for his father - Reggae fi Dada - is more political than personal. [His seemingly political elegy for the late Black MP Bernie Grant, on the other hand, was touchingly personal to my mind, showing for him a level of affection and respect that was certainly never afforded him by the mainstream media.] His poems are political and his best poems are typically very specific to their time and place, which is the only way art can ever aspire to be universal.
Perhaps readers do require footnotes for the individual people and events that are the subject of his poems - I think the notes supplied will suffice. That is not the case for the audiences he spoke to when they were written nor for those who remember them still. He wrote poems because he was relevant and he articulated very real and passionate opinions for his own community, with which he definitely did identify. Quite simply, he was and still is an activist, a poet who can use his art with all the impact of a political poster campaign. His poems seem to me as iconic as some of the great posters. Di Great Insohreckhsan is not how the establishment want to remember 1981 in Brixton: "..di plastic bullit and di waatah cannon / will bring a bam bam / will bring a bam bam / nevah mind Scarman..." but it is how local people are likely to remember it. Sonny's Lettah is a hugely effective protest at the "Sus" law, which frankly retains its relevance in 2014 despite so many superficial changes to the law and to the way the community is policed. It is still Black people getting stopped and searched and they are getting radicalised still by that experience. If we fail to police by consent, then we fail. It Dread inna Inglan complains of a wrongful conviction. "dem frame up George Lindo / up in Bradford Toun / but di Bradford Blacks / dem a rally roun..." New Cross Massakah describes painfully well the arson attack that killed 14 youngsters trapped in a house party. "is a helluva someting fi true ye know / wat a terrible price wi haffi pay dow, mah / jus fi live a likkle life / jus fi struggle fi survive /...../kyastin dis shadow af gloom owevah wi life..."
He does ponder, in Tings an Times, if things have changed for the better and he lists some that have: "time an fawchune been some a wi fren / now that we gat wi council flat / an wi dis an wi dat / wi collah tee vee an all di mad con..." He questions "do we need anadah moses / fi tek we craas di sea.." and concludes enigmatically enough: "somtimes di pungent owedah af decay / signal seh bran new life deh pan di way"
December 28, 2023
This collection covers a wide selection of Johnson's poem over various decades. It shows the lyrical, dub poetry style emblematic of his work whereby language is ultimately fragmented. This is highly influenced by the music scene. In addition, the poet actively reflects on socio-political issues regarding race in Britain by exploring police brutality, activism and racism. This provides a topical and highly relevant approach. I did however find that the collection became slightly monotonous due to the overlap in poems.
April 20, 2021
Rtc
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 (4/5 stars).
Apparently this is my kind of poetry. I truly appreciated this.
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 (4/5 stars).
Apparently this is my kind of poetry. I truly appreciated this.
December 13, 2016
This was a very interesting read. It's thrilling to see the poetic potential of Jamaican patois on the page, having been already so familiar with its oral power. The Seventies Verse chapter is quite monotonous, largely evoking life as a young black man in Brixton at that time. But as the book goes on there are some truly moving poems, particularly Reggae fi Dada and More Time. Beautiful stuff, much recommended! And to anyone who gets a taste for patois, check out some of the astounding fast-paced wordplay of dancehall music; the work of artists like Tiger, Lady Saw and Vybz Kartel might just leave you stunned.
January 30, 2023
“far freedam is nat noh idealagy. Freedam is a human necessity”
A beautiful crafted selection of poems that beautifully draw attention on many painful subjects. The soft undertone to Johnson’s educating narrative is one that does well to remind us as readers that a important message (despite being disturbing) can be delivered with maturity and not lose its impact.
The poems are necessary eyeopeners to the tragically unjust events of our history… all captured in Johnson’s genius lyrical reference.
A beautiful crafted selection of poems that beautifully draw attention on many painful subjects. The soft undertone to Johnson’s educating narrative is one that does well to remind us as readers that a important message (despite being disturbing) can be delivered with maturity and not lose its impact.
The poems are necessary eyeopeners to the tragically unjust events of our history… all captured in Johnson’s genius lyrical reference.
Read
July 31, 2011A personal hero, Linton Kwesi Johnson is among my favorite poets and musicians.
August 31, 2021
An amazing collection of LKJ's dub poetry from the 70's, 80's, & 90's which tackles themes such as institutionalised racism & police brutality in Britain, written in Jamaican Creole (which is itself in opposition to conventional literary/grammatical rules & thus corrupt power structures). Some favourites: 'Sonny's Lettah' (an Anti-Sus poem i.e. against the Vagrancy Act which led to young Black people being disproportionately arrested), 'Reggae fi Dada' (a heartfelt poem for his father who died in 1982), & 'New Craas Massakah' (in memory of the fourteen young Black people killed in the New Cross Massacre 1981). Although the poems are more suited to being read aloud, with reggae music accompaniment, I still very much enjoyed this collection and learned a lot from it.
October 9, 2023
L'esperit del Roots Reggae fet poema. Poemes sobre la cultura jamaicana a Anglaterra, la brutalitat policial, les revoltes i la lluita de la comunitat de les West Indies.
Llegeixes i et pots imaginar un DJ tirant els versos pel sound system. Llegir en Patois jamaicà ha sigut un repte, però ho ha fet molt divertit. Ara a escoltar els discuts!
Llegeixes i et pots imaginar un DJ tirant els versos pel sound system. Llegir en Patois jamaicà ha sigut un repte, però ho ha fet molt divertit. Ara a escoltar els discuts!
February 10, 2021
A scream of black lives matter in this collection from the 70s, 80s and 90s. A record of Black Britain from these times and its heroes and martyrs. There's a terrible sadness that "Liesense fi Kill" can now be added to with even more names of those whose lives have been ended in police custody.
September 29, 2019
I would 100% recommend listening to this as you read (or at least read this aloud). I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to!
August 6, 2022
This is an extraordinary collection of poems by the pioneering dub poet, Linton Kwesi Johnson. The works selected for this Penguin anthology - most of which he recorded and set to music with the legendary musician Dennis Bovell - took me back to my twenties when I used to pour over his radical rhymes printed on a little CD booklet. They paint such a vivid picture of racial injustice in Britain over the decades. He tells of police brutality and deaths in custody, social and institutional discrimination, riots and insurrections, political protest; he witnesses disaffected young people seeking pleasure, love, a living, community, knowledge - the odds stacked against them; he remembers writers, thinkers and icons across the African diaspora, moments and people in history that most of Britain is blind to. And he does all of this in his distinctive Jamaican patoi. I loved it. Highly recommended.
November 26, 2020
Such an amazing and emotionally difficult collection to read, and despite most of the work being written in the 20th century, so pertinent to today especially regarding police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement. Every white person interested in current affairs, or who cares about the world should try to read some of the elegies in this volume - they're heartbreaking, but so effective in exposing systemic inequality and abuse of governing power.
(full disclosure: am half Indo-Guyanese, therefore POC)
(full disclosure: am half Indo-Guyanese, therefore POC)
November 30, 2020
LKJ is a master poet-musician. His oral verse makes a feature of Jamaican creole to the effect of discouraging and denying any other voice being imposed on his highly politically and racially charged words. I'd recommend anyone get their hands on a physical copy of his work but above that I'd encourage anyone to listen to his words in his own voice in their musical form.
October 4, 2021
It’s a great collection; obviously more suited to being read aloud but enjoyed it nonetheless - poem’s that stood out to me where ‘It Dread inna Inglan’, ‘Mekin Histri’, ‘Beacon of Hope’ and ‘New Craas Massakah’ especially - but overall all very good and incredibly touching in relevance to the dedications and honouring of the devastating historical events that Linton Kwesi Johnson writes about.
February 23, 2023
Wow. I have been blown away by this selection of poems. Johnson is a pure radical in every sense of the word.
I throughly enjoyed and related to the following poems;
Inglan is a Bitch
More Time
If I Woz a Tap Natch Poet
Liesense fi Kill
New World Hawdah
Johnson is an exceptional poet, I will be seeking further works of his.
I throughly enjoyed and related to the following poems;
Inglan is a Bitch
More Time
If I Woz a Tap Natch Poet
Liesense fi Kill
New World Hawdah
Johnson is an exceptional poet, I will be seeking further works of his.
January 31, 2024
One of the most important Black British poets of the past 50 years. LKJ's dub poetry is so striking in its depiction of Black British oppression, and uncompromisingly authentic. 'Seasons of the Heart', albeit greatly juxtaposing to the majority of his activist poems, was the piece that struck me the most - so prettyyyy.
March 25, 2021
I enjoyed this a lot. I love how Johnson uses Jamaican Patois, it makes his poetic voice so abundantly clear and makes this book stand apart from the crowd of other poetry that I've read. I also adore how Johnson explored the themes of politics, revolution and socialism.
October 7, 2021
genre of poetry id not fully investigated when i first came across it but honestly some of the best poetry i’ve ever read, going onto jean breeze next, I will update/ Elle, this is very interesting for modern history xxxx
October 23, 2024
If you ever get the chance to read this in the original Creole/Patois, please do.
If you get the chance to read this out loud to yourself, please do.
You won't be insulting anyone, you'd be honouring this form of dub poetry and Mr. Johnson himself.
RIP victims of the New Cross Massacre
If you get the chance to read this out loud to yourself, please do.
You won't be insulting anyone, you'd be honouring this form of dub poetry and Mr. Johnson himself.
RIP victims of the New Cross Massacre
October 29, 2024
Linton’s poetry is something fun, energetic and unique. His fusion of styles and culture is exhilarating and puts a smile on my face. It’s a concoction of creole, with lyrical spoken word and politics.
May 2, 2020
love me some LKJ
Read
October 11, 2020Performed, these poems are just so cool 😍
Read
December 8, 2020 for school but lowkey kinda good
(my reviews are godly i know)
(my reviews are godly i know)
October 3, 2022
probably would be more enjoyable if not being read all at once like this
April 13, 2023
Love LKJ, a life-changing new voice in poetry when I first discovered him some 25 years ago or so, and just as visceral now. And always.
January 20, 2024
I enjoyed the poetry and learned a lot of shocking UK black history
July 11, 2024
a beautiful collection of lyrical, musical poems
September 10, 2025
you have to read this poems while listening to lkj perform them. it's a cultural requirement.
October 13, 2021
My initial reaction to this text being on my reading list this term was oof.. I am out of my depths here. But with the trusty aid of Youtube, I found myself enthralled by Kwesi Johnson’s work. Not only does he write with genuine passion and unshackled emotion, but he writes as a literary activist, rather than an angry youth. This distinction forces the reader to listen beyond compassion for his traumatising accounts of racial violence, and into the fight behind it, more so, how you must join the fight too. His poetry screams of the Black Lives Matter Movement; heartbreaking as it happened 40 years after some of these poems were written. The scary prevalence of the topics he discussed still being issues in the 21st century just shows how much progress we still need to make.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews