I Am As Brown As Brown Can Be
POEM
I Am As Brown As Brown Can Be
by Mataio Austin Dean
I am as brown as brown can be,
With the swirling riches high,
Piled tightly into my sloe bush eyes –
Smoking from the firing holes.
I am as brown as brown can be,
With more than the soft gold
Of Empire’s dogs, woven into my
Bonny flaxen kirtle’s hem.
I am as brown as brown can be
And when the sugar pours,
All burning and sticky yellow,
I’ll dance ‘neath plantation pyres.
I am as brown as brown can be,
And my skin too so rich,
With all the labour piled therein
And all the golden stars.
MATAIO AUSTIN DEAN uses intaglio printmaking to create images and symbols that explore England’s and Guyana’s darkly intertwined histories, throwing light upon moments of resistance as well as unearthing stories of coloniality and rebellion embedded in English landscape and architecture. Austin Dean’s practice is research-driven, exploring Marxism as a framework for emancipatory praxis. www.mataioaustindean.com
Image: Baarsel, Cornelis Van Engraver, and Friedrich Von Bouchenroeder. Map of the Colony of Berbice Located in Batavian Guiana in America between the Colonies of Demerara and Suriname. Amsterdam: Covens and Mortier, 1802. Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021668502/>.