Meet Robert Gibson (St. Thomas, Barbados West Indies)

“Call Me for Prayer”

“Call me for prayer…”

Where?

Blasted on FB

Publicly

As tho’ everyone should see how far I’ve fallen?

And I need help to get up

From who?

You?

Don’t make me laugh!

Your rod and staff don’t inspire confidence.

They bring out the beast in me

Make me snarl cruelly

Thinking how easy it would be

To wash you off in cuss words

Poetically…

I don’t need the high and mighty

"Call me for prayer…”

 I need the brother who will be there

When tears flood my face

Who isn’t disgraced

To come alongside someone sitting in the dirt

And you wonder why I “flirt

With the world?”

‘Cause there’s more genuine love

Out here than under the pious stare

Of the righteous….

For real, don’t make me cuss

'Cause all I’ve heard is how I’m throwing away my life

When all the while I’m battling loss

And when I need you, you gloss

Over my need and tell me

How I’ve fallen away?

Yet I remember the hugs

Surrounding me

when loss wracked my body

and no one offered to pray,

just allowed me to be;

not throwing jargon.

I’m sure that if I was next to Christ

He would comfort

Instead of consorting

Spitting religious verbosity

I know you mean well, see

 But time and place would dictate

 A privately penned message

Not a blast on my Timeline

For all to see

That you’re ‘helping’ me

‘Cause the same Christ you following

Said “Don’t let your left hand see

What your right hand is doing…”

 So, in my ruling,

You need to wheel and come again

 Or rather – don’t come back at all

‘Cause I don’t need to deal with all the emotion

You stir up; one simple message pulled up

And my day lost all its bearings

Like a doomed plane losing altitude

Veering to an explosive end.

I had to sit down and spend

The time to write this verse,

Expressing myself and saving you

From the curses rising unbridled to my lips

So save us both the bother and take a trip

Taking your, “Call me for prayer” with you…

About the Poet

Robert R.Gibson (PassionPoet or Passion for short) is a member of the League of Extraordinary Poets (LXP) in Barbados and enjoys painting sensual images with his words, leading his audience into a sensory experience. Although sexuality and sensuality are his main forte, in his own words he says, "Passion is not always about sex." Passion is anger, sorrow, enthusiasm - his poems are written to evoke intensity. He has been writing from age 14 and is aiming to have his first anthology of poems published soon.

In 2011, Robert entered the National Independence Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA), the national arts festival of his native Barbados with three poems – Luscious, Rain, and Goblet. All three of the poems achieved awards – Luscious received a silver award, and Goblet and Rain received bronze awards. He also received the Most Promising Poet award for the year.

In 2012, Robert entered NIFCA again and one of his poems – Tribute – received a bronze award.

The winning NIFCA entries are to be published in the Winning Words anthology produced by the National Cultural Foundation (NCF), the producers of NIFCA.

Another one of his poems Tribute (A Call to Action), which was inspired by the documentary Cultures of Resistance, was highlighted by the Cultures of Resistance producers on their Facebook page.

Robert has also been the featured writer on the Seawoman’s Caribbean Writing Opps blog  and his work has been published in an anthology of poetry written by Ainsley Carter entitled,  A Journey Into the Abyss of the Mind

His poetry has also been accepted into the St. Somewhere Caribbean E-zine for publication in their April 7thedition.

UBAWA: When did you first realize your attraction to poetry?

Robert: I was 14 or so. I was introduced to poetry as part of my English Language curriculum in school. I decided to try my hand at it and the kids loved it, and I have been writing ever since.

UBAWA: Tell us about the very first poem you have ever written

Robert: I wrote a poem after being introduced to poetry while in school. It was called THE STUDENT'S LAMENT - and it was a humorous piece insulting everyone from the headmistress to the janitor - and the kids LOVED IT. I said to myself, "I could do this!" And I've been writing ever since.

UBAWA: Do you have a favorite poet? If so, who is he/she?

Robert: Locally my favourite poet is D.J Simmons - I love his energy, and he's the one that got me back into writing in a serious way. Internationally, it is Gemineye - I LOVE his poems, especially POETIC BLOODLINES.

UBAWA: When you’re writing poetry, do you think in terms of genre?

Robert: Sometimes. I usually write in free flowing spoken word type verse, so that I can learn it and perform it to an audience. However, from time to time I restrict myself to a form for practice.

UBAWA: Some people say writing poetry is like writing a rap or love song. Do you agree? Why/why not?

Robert: I agree because (good) rap and love songs are poetic in nature. The point of a good poem is to communicate a feeling to the audience, just like you would want to do when writing a song.

UBAWA: Are there certain styles/techniques/rules of poetry you adhere to in your writing? Tell us about your writing style.

Robert: When I'm writing under inspiration I write in such a way that the words flow off my tongue. The goal is to be able to carry the written word to the stage or to let those who read it on the page feel it as if it were being read aloud. I use a lot of imagery and word play. The rhythm of the piece is important - words will be dropped, cut or changed if the beat of a line is off.

UBAWA: What poetry books have you written?

Robert: None yet, but I'm in the process of writing an anthology of poetry called LOVE'S JOURNEY

UBAWA: Have you performed any of your poetry pieces on stage? If so, please share your experience(s) with us.

Robert: I am a spoken word artist, so I perform regularly on stage. My last performance was at the official house of Barbados' Prime Minister for a charity event called LOVE, POETRY and SONG. This was in aid of giving money and food items to help people living with HIV and AIDS.

Check out some of my performances

UBAWA: What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of love?

Robert: The first thing that comes to mind when I think of love is my fiancée. I write her a poem every day expressing that love to her.

UBAWA: Are you currently dating someone, married, or single?

Robert: I'm dating another writer, Colleen Williams, who has written a book about her life as a domestic abuse victim in her book entitled, WHO FEELS IT KNOWS IT.

UBAWA: Do you think success is a matter of chance or a matter of choice?

Robert: Success is a matter of choice; you have to work hard to get where you want in life. That being said, it has elements of chance too in that circumstances may align in the right way to allow you to get a chance to strive harder for success. For example (non-poetic) I would have sent out resumes to change jobs, (which is working for what I want, or choice) but the fact that the right job came the day before I was let go from my current job is chance; that allows me to continue to work towards my goal.

UBAWA: Inspiration for a new poem can come from the strangest places. What inspired you to write your most recent poem?

Robert: I get inspired by many things - a random word would pop into my head and I would build a poem around it. One of the craziest inspirations has given birth to one of my most popular poems. My poem LUSCIOUS was inspired by the taste of a ham sandwich.

UBAWA: If you could go back and “right” any past wrong in your life, which one would it be and why?

Robert: Getting married too early caused a lot of heartaches; I would have waited.

UBAWA: When you’re not writing, what are you doing?

Robert: Facebooking, working at my day job as a Database Administrator or Skyping with my fiancée

UBAWA: There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes of a poet’s life, fill us in on what one typical day for you is like.

Robert: Get up, dress for work as a database administrator, write a poem at my desk if I feel inspired and work is slow, then travel to my hangout spot and chill with my friends before coming home.

UBAWA: If you could create the “perfect day,” what would it be like?

Robert: The perfect day would contain lots of inspiration to write with no interruptions. My perfect day would contain spending time with my fiancée, going on dates and reveling in the inspiration of the day.

UBAWA: What do you do on the weekends?

Robert: I take care of my children on Saturdays, and spend time with my fiancée on Sundays. Sometimes, I perform or have a meeting with other poets.

UBAWA: Do you hang out or go to clubs?

Robert: I hang with other artistic people at one of our vegan restaurants and bars called the GOOD LIFE. I perform at a restaurant called JAGOS, but I do actually go party on the party district from time to time as well.

UBAWA: If you could visit any other country in the world and take one other person with you, where would you go and who would you take?

Robert: I'd take my fiancée to Europe and explore. We want to spend quality time together and we don't find a lot of that right now.

UBAWA: Tell us about one challenge in life that you had to overcome. What was the challenge and how did you get through it?

Robert: When I got separated and was headed for divorce, I fell into a funk, a serious depression. One of my friends started sending me FB invites to go out of the house. I found this poetry open mic in a bar and I went to see what it was about. It was there when I met the guy who inspired me to be a spoken word artist myself, DJ Simmons. Through interacting with him and the other word artists, I have come out of that funk with a new confidence, a new boldness, and a new relationship as well :)

UBAWA: Before you leave, tell us one thing about yourself that we may not know.

Robert: I HATE to be late for ANYTHING. I guess I have OCD. I would rather be an hour EARLY and sit down with a book in the meantime than be late.

Stay Connected:

Website: http://poetwhispers.wordpress.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PassonPoet

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bajanpoet

Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/bajanpoet?feature=mhee