Omeros

When Derek returns to Saint Lucia, the island is in the grip of a storm. Achille and Hector deal with the storm. After the “black rain” ends (222), everything that Derek feared would be destroyed instead has been renewed.

At Christmas, a breeze circles the town. For Derek, the festive cheer and warmth carries a sense of foreboding, seen in the blocked drains. In “twin-headed January” (223), Derek praises the seasonal weather. January takes its name from Janus, a two-faced Roman god who looks forward into the future and backward into the past at the same time. This period of the year makes Derek think of promise, even though he senses history around him. His senses awaken.

Hector drives his van through the mountainous part of Saint Lucia. He ignores the warnings from Dennis Plunkett that he should be more careful. A piglet ventures into the road, and Hector swerves to avoid it, crashing the Comet. Hector dies. His dead body appears to express remorse.

When Derek comes to the island, the taxi drivers jostle for his business. When he gets into a cab, the driver mentions Hector dying “in that chariot” (226). Derek despises the island’s ostensible progress toward a “concrete future” (227), either because he resents the changing way of life or because he feels it altering his poetic vision for Saint Lucia.