On the Coast and Other Poems

At the time this collection of poems was first published in 1972, Wayne Brown's careful formalismwhich belies a turbulence of ideas and emotionswas out of fashion and the poetry of revolution was in full swing. Now, however, these poems are seen as seminal in Caribbean poetry, both for their intrinsic qualities and for Brown s crucial role as the mentor of a current generation of Caribbean poets. Exploring the ties between creativity and contentment, the poems enumerate the threats to these human goals, and through anecdotesfrequently drawn from the poet's own family lifereflect on the rewards and pain of remaining in the Caribbean while othershave gone abroad. To understand their exile, which has its own heartache, several poems are odes tothe artists the author admires most, including Pablo Neruda, Vladimir Nabokov, Rainer Maria Rilke, and the Tobagan poet Eric Roach."