The Caribbean night was black like magic
and in the lamplight I saw myself
in the eye of a lizard,
as it was chewing an insect
to the beat of a distant drum,
hey-ho! and a bottle of rum.
And the rainforest shined like Zion,
or so the Rastaman’s livity was telling me,
in the shape of the conquering Lion,
and through the holy smoke I saw my fate:
Haile Selassie in my redemption hum,
hey-ho! and a bottle of rum.
But as I was gazing at the misty sky
in awe my visions grew wilder
and my soul was lifted high,
charting the flight of the bat,
foreseeing dreams yet to come,
hey-ho! and a bottle of rum.
Niko Tiliopoulos
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/and-a-bottle-of-rum/
