“The River Mumma Wants Out” was published in Goodison's collection Controlling the Silver in 2005. In a review of this collection in the Caribbean arts journal Calabash, Michela A. Calderaro notes that previous collections placed Goodison in high standing among Caribbean poets. With Controlling the Silver, Goodison takes her readers “on a longer and more complex passage out of the islands and across the wide seas (and back).” Calderaro asserts that the poet's use of language ranks among “the richest and most impressive” of a “number of contemporary Caribbean writers.” At the end of the review, Calderaro remarks on Controlling the Silver, “If we were to say that it is the finest Caribbean poetry book we've read this year, we'd be limiting its importance. It is, quite clearly, one of the finest books in contemporary world literature, a rich and satisfying feast for the mind.”

In a...