Dread Beat an' Blood is the first album by the brilliant Linton Kwesi Johnson. I bought it when it came out in 1978. It remains one of my favourite reggae albums, a perfect mix of Johnson's poetry and words, and Dennis Bovell's dub vision.
One of the poems that Johnson wishes he had written is Poem of Shape and Motion #1 by the Guyanese poet Martin Carter, which begins:
I was wondering if I could shape this passion
just as I wanted in solid fire.
I was wondering if the strange combustion
of my days
the tension of the world inside of me
and the strength of my heart were enough.
