Identity
One of the most prevalent themes in the anthology is the theme of identity and this theme is often discussed through the use of the image-metaphor-motif of the butterfly, both the monarch and the blue morpho, as well as the act of migration and travel. The author’s identity, similar to the insect, goes through periods or phases of change. It is also interesting to note that the theme of identity is not limited to just the author but also the locations and the societies that spring up from those locations. The first collection of poems reflect the author’s identity as a successful poet and full-settled migrant. Here he also narrates how the community has changed in character describing it’s multi-ethnicity and underlying danger. The second collection features poems that describe his struggles as a migrant trying to find his identity in a new environment, and finally he comes back full circle describing Trinidad as an adult only to find that the identity of Trinidad that he knew as a child is no longer the one before him.
Nostalgia
There is a strong theme of nostalgia that is present in every segment of the anthology and it is expressed not just as a yearning for the past but rather as a yearning for the simplicity of youth. He writes about the simplicity of life when he was a child, contrasting it with life as a grown man living in England. He writes about his yearning for the familiar elements of his life in Trinidad as a new migrant. When he returns to Trinidad as a man and as an accomplished poet he recalls with great fondness his childhood and writes with some sadness that that life is now completely gone.
Affiliation
Identification and belonging are another set of constants in the anthology and most of these poems come from a deeply personal place from the author as his life had been a chronicle of near constant uprooting and settling. The author was born from Trinidadian parents and they lived in England until he was four and they moved back to Trinidad where he lived until he was nineteen, where he moved back to England. These experiences have provided the author with a truly global perspective but has also given him a sense of being never truly from one place.
Loss
There is a profound sense of melancholy that marks the author’s works. It would seem that most of that sadness comes from both a sense of being neither-here-nor-there with regard to cultural affiliation, the awareness of the transient nature of location, and the author’s personal history of constant relocation. The author feels the loss of innocence of the youth in Brixton, he feels the loss of part of his identity talking about his life as a new migrant, and the loss of the Trinidad of his childhood as an adult returning to the land of his birth.
Social Commentary/Race Inequality
All three segments of the poem collection contains observations of the poet about the socio-economic conditions of the area he is in. Regardless of time or place there always seems to be a direct relationship between poverty, racism, and the presence of the criminal element which, in turn, gives rise to violence. The author’s recollections of his youth in Trinidad are marred by the specter of colonialism and the slave trade. His poems that speak of his life as a new migrant also speaks of the inequality and the manifestations of racism, both overt and subtle, that he suffers through. Finally,in the poems chronicling his life as a Brixton resident he makes mention of the gang violence that occurs in the fringes of society, hidden away, but not so well hidden as to be completely out of sight.