It Takes A Mighty Fire

H. D. Carberry poems spring from Jamaica’s green time, those heady years which begin in the 1930s with the growth of nationalism and the emergence of the island’s modern political and labour movements. It was a period which released a surge of creativity as pioneering men and women sought to express themselves in ways that would define themselves rather than reflect the ideas of colonial domination. Carberry’s poems reflects the spirit of self-discovery and self awareness which caught like `a mighty fire’. He writes with attentive care and affection about his island, his people, his heritage: of love, humanity and nature around him. These poems reflect a deep yearning for the self-worth that comes from pride both in ourselves, and in those things which are familiar and make us what we are. It Takes a Mighty Fire shares Carberry’s work for the first time in an anthology which contains many poems never seen before. In a century where, in the poet’s words, `My country grows, Struggling towards the sun’, Carberry’s work makes a vital contribution. He has left a testament of his own faith and love, one which inspires the very things he most cared about, the recognition and celebration of his country and its people.