Gardening in the Tropics

John Walker is a professor of Spanish studies at Queen’s University.

Olive Senior was born and raised in Jamaica, but now lives in Toronto.
Her work includes three collections of short stories and several
non-fiction volumes on Caribbean culture and literature. Her published
poetry comprises Talking of Trees and the two collections reviewed here.

Originally published in 1994, Gardening in the Tropics is a fine
collection that captures the essence of Jamaican life. Senior’s finely
tuned ear and sharp eye recall vividly the spirit of her island home.
Her poetic rendering of her native culture transcends mere local colour
in its depiction of the human condition.

The book is divided into four sections. Part 1, “Travellers’
Tales,” features tales of stowaways and immigrants. Part 2, “Nature
Studies,” is a lyrical and elegiac description of plants and fruits
(pineapple, guava, bamboo, etc.). The more personal Part 3, “Gardening
the Tropics,” describes her father’s plantation and the knot garden,
among other things. Part 4, “Mystery,” is made up of 12 poems
dedicated to African gods in the New World.

In Over the Roofs of the World, Senior returns to her beloved island to
portray the wonders of nature, especially birds and flying. Part 1, “A
Little Bird Told Me,” describes the parrots, hummingbirds,
woodpeckers, magpies, and ostriches, and their symbolic role in island
life. Part 2, “Islanded,” is rooted in the concept of isolation,
from discovery (Columbus) to colonization (and destructive progress),
and in the blue island mentality of the inhabitants and returning
immigrants (missing and missed). Part 3, “Penny Reel,” penetrates to
the heart of popular culture through its descriptions of the maypole
dance and other children’s games and street activities. This fine
collection concludes with an impressive “Ode to Pablo Neruda,” the
Nobel-Prize–winning Chilean poet, which serves not only as a eulogy
but also as an ars poetica of the 20th-century Latin American master.