Certifiable

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

Pamela Mordecai’s third collection of poetry is divided into three
parts. Part 1, “Jus a Likl Lovin,” captures the thoughts and
feelings of women at home and abroad in such poems as “Convent
Girl,” a harrowing account of the rape and murder of a girl, and
“Sky Jazz,” which centres on an abandoned but resilient woman with a
child to protect. In “Lottery and Will’s Flower,” Jamaican women
struggle to survive in an alien environment (Canada). The 10 poems in
Part 2, “My Sister Muse,” express the theme of sisterhood, with
subject matter ranging from taking a bath to living as a bag lady in
Toronto. Part 3, “Certifiable,” deals with the theme of madness in
its portrayals of women on the edge, like the protagonist in
“Serafina” who hears the word of God through the mouth of a
squirrel. These mature and disturbing poems raise the questions, what is
madness and who defines it? Notable for its sparkling language, striking
rhythms, and Caribbean cadences, as well as for its astute cultural
insights, Certifiable is a valuable contribution to Canadian-Jamaican
literature.