NEXT month, in which we celebrate our country’s 40th Anniversary of Independence, will soon be here. In fact, activities are already being held to mark that occasion.
This edition’s Matters On My Mind is in the form of a poem. Bearing in mind that I am not a poet, do not be too critical if it is not clothed in the type of poetical language used by real poets.
Helen Turns 40
My name is Helen and i will be 40 next month
I’m woman, still young, still curvy, still has my height
My hills, mountains, valleys and beaches
Still beautifully clothed in nature’s best design
I’m still being courted by many male suitors
Taiwan, China, Europe, Russia and even the big man called Uncle Sam
They all want a piece of my Caribbean charm
Everyone knows I was once fought over by England and France
Over and over and over and over they fought
Drunk with desire they couldn’t get enough of me
Both powers were bent on claiming me as their own
Sadly the children I birthed seemed ready to give me away to strangers
Broken and battered by politics they fight and quarrel amongst themselves
I am crying as I approach 40
Watching my children prostitute me in the name of development
My tears flow easily on the land
As I watch my prize assets given away for trinkets
My sons and daughters in charge of those assets are immune to my cries, my pain
I take this opportunity to speak to my children drirectly
“My dear children, as you celebrate by 40th birthday next month
I pray that you recognize my tears and my pain
I pray that my son Allen who heads the team elected to safeguard my assets,
And protect my patronage, remembered what I had to go through
At the hands of foreign powers
And not place me back in those hands
I pray that my daughters Mary, Sarah and Gail
Set standards, moral and otherwise, for my younger girls to follow
I hope this year my son Guy drops his cockiness and recognizes
How privileged he is to be representing me
The same applies to my other sons, namely Stevenson, Ezechiel, Lenard and the others
I hope they understand that to whom much is given much is expected
I could almost hear the police band playing
The speeches being read, the parades and all the other activities held in my honour
I call on Allen to provide for everyone equally as possible, and to
Eradicate nepotism, favouritism and other isms creating hatred in my house
Please, enjoy my birthday but make me proud
Help me hold my head up high amongst my sisters in the Caribbean Sea
Make me feel that I am still
The most beautiful woman in this chain of sun-kissed islands
