Poet 003

By Kendel Hippolyte

i went
from citizen
to spy
to double agent
one to three
discovering
my true element
in secrecy

in Rome, Roman
at home only
human, only
a self alone
always i act
from coded lines
cryptic directives
i intone

double agent, who
am i on behalf of,
half of? what
do i halve?
us? them? me?
no one
I make a whole
larger than country

•••

The Caribbean Review of Books, August 2005

Kendel Hippolyte lives in St Lucia and is co-founder of the Lighthouse Theatre Company. Three of his collections of poetry have been published in St Lucia, and his work has been anthologised in several publications.