Geoffrey Philp
Bio
I am a Jamaican writer. I write poems (haiku & haibun), stories & essays about climate change, Marcus Garvey, music icons such as Bob Marley, and the craft of writing through personal reflection & societal engagement.
Stories (73/0)
Zen and the Art of Haiku
Forty years ago, my mentor, the late Dennis Scott, introduced me to haiku. Since then, I've studied this concise form that can express intense awareness and mindfulness. Through books like The Haiku Handbook, The Haiku Seasons, Haiku World, and Haiku: The Last Poems of an American Icon, I've learned techniques and been inspired by masters from Bashō to Richard Wright. But, in what I can only describe as a moment of serendipity, during my recent trip to Turkey, I discovered Eugen Herrigel's Zen and the Art of Archery, which made me see the links between Zen and the practice of haiku.
By Geoffrey Philp 8 months ago in Poets
The Legacies of Oppression:
As a Jamaican immigrant residing in Miami, I've encountered instances of feeling like an outsider or an "Other" within American society. This feeling of exclusion, stemming from factors such as my race, nationality, and immigrant status, significantly influenced my latest book of poems, "Archipelagos." Within this collection, I delve into the concept of Othering across various lines, including race, ethnicity, religion, culture, and the aftermath of colonialism.
By Geoffrey Philp 8 months ago in Poets
Ten Days In Turkey
Istanbul is a city bristling with life. The past and present, the sacred and the profane rub shoulders in seemingly easy commerce under the shadow of the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, which overlooks the Golden Horn inlet and traces its origins back to the early 17th-century days of the Ottoman Empire.
By Geoffrey Philp 8 months ago in Poets
Ten Days in Israel
I'm starting to believe in Bashert. The cheapest flight I could get from Miami to Israel had a stopover in Lisbon. According to my cousin, Darrah Virgo, whom I only met seven years ago after taking a DNA test, my maternal grandmother's family, the Virgos, fled Portugal when the Portuguese Inquisition began. After escaping to England, the Virgos eventually settled in Jamaica, where I was born.
By Geoffrey Philp 8 months ago in Poets
How I Wrote "Riverboat Resistance"
I first saw an X clip of the “Riverboat Brawl” on Thursday morning, August 10, in Turkey. I had stopped watching in the first two seconds because I thought I knew how it would end: another black man killed at the hands of a white mob. And although I hadn't seen much apparent violence like that in Turkey, just the usual symbols of force and power in the guns and assault rifles, I didn't want to see any more.
By Geoffrey Philp 8 months ago in Poets