Quotes from Ramabai Espinet

Our hearts flew up to heaven,, and all the soot and flying dust of burning cane vanished in the smoke fires of hell while ours ascended skywards, washed in the blood of the lamb.

If you happen to be born into an Indian family, an Indian family from the Caribbean, migratory, never certain of the terrain, that's how life falls down around you. It's close and thick and sheltering, its ugly and violent secrets locked inside the family walls. The outside encroaches, but the ramparts are strong, and once you leave it you have no shelter and no ready skills for finding a different one. I found that out after years of trying.