Kumina by Kamau Brathwaite | Poems Rethabile Likes

“Kumina,” by Kamau Brathwaite

Poet Kamau Brathwaite reads selections from “Kumina,” from Born to Slow Horses.
Read more of the poem

What I admire about “Kumina” is how Brathwaite turns ritual into rhythm on the page. The poem doesn't just describe a Kumina ceremony — it becomes one. The spacing, the line breaks, the way words fall like drumbeats: that's Nation Language at its most alive.

Here is how “Kumina” opens:

on the first day
of yr death it is quiet it is dormant like a doormat
no one-foot touch its welcome. its dust on the floor
is not disturb nor are the sleeping spirits of this house

Brathwaite’s Kumina takes its name from a Jamaican religious tradition of drumming, dancing, and spirit possession. The poem's scattered words and uneven lines mimic the trance-like state of the ceremony. It asks to be heard aloud — which is exactly why this video belongs here.

— Rethabile

Transcript of Kamau Brathwaite reading “Kumina”

In this video, Kamau Brathwaite reads from his poem “Kumina.” He begins: “down in the gully gully / down in the darkness of the ground / the stone cannot hear you / the stone has no sound...” The reading continues with the poet's distinctive Caribbean voice, emphasizing the rhythmic spacing and Nation Language style that defined his work.

Video source: YouTube, Griffin Poetry Prize reading. Duration approximately 2 minutes.

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