Leave It Alone!

 

 

 

I read what my friend, Dr. Charles,

In a tabloid had to say

And I must agree with her submission

Almost all of the way.

 

I was not certain, however,

Whether she supported the change

From Independence Day

To Barbados National Day.

 

She surely did not condemn

The nostalgic notion re the day

And she felt that we needed to move on

In more tangible ways.

 

And like I said at the beginning

I certainly agree with this

But, please Madam Prime Minister,

Leave Independence Day off the list.

 

It’s been established, Madam PM,

For the last fifty-six years

And we have come a long way

Since that remarkable day.

 

Think about what it meant

For the children of that time,

Think of watching one flag come down

And how the other climbed.

 

For me being a republic

Can never ever erase all that

But instead, it should be built’

Upon that established fact.

 

So many songs speak to it

And dramatic sketches too,

I cannot forget the rain and mud

Tell me, my fellow Barbadian, can you?

 

Ordinarily,

Bajans would have stayed at home

But that night on the Garrison

We felt in our zone.

 

 

Something great had happened

To little Miss Bimshire

And there on the Garrison pasture

We were all freshly inspired.

 

It was more that nostalgia

And I knew back then at thirteen

That for me, it was the beginning

Of the end of the Queen.

 

We should have been a republic

From the very beginning

But we left back some of the placenta

And still did Great Britain’s bidding.

 

For a very long time

We kept a part of that afterbirth

With one or two Prime Ministers

Promising to quench the thirst.

 

I am glad we are finally a republic

Though I did not like the haste

For the republic Constitution post republic

Seems an intolerable waste.

 

Who decides to sail the high seas

Without compass or charter

And in actuality sets out a-sailing

Determining such could come thereafter?

 

 

Only a madman would do such a thing

Unless otherwise

There was something he knew

That was to all others disguised.

 

What’s the sense of singing

God bless Bim on Independence Day

When in all fact and reality

It is Barbados National Day?

 

Yes, we need to move beyond nostalgia

But certainly not without it

For folklore and nostalgia

Is every country’s habit.

 

And the pride that nostalgia beckons

Should inspire us to do just that

For a republic by name only

Would be an Emperor’s new-clothes fact.

 

Its nakedness on the outside

Demonstrating the emptiness of thought

And showing to the world around

A people most distraught.

 

 

Unless of course they lack a child

That would point out the naked fact

That the unclad republic which is Bim

Is simply just that.

 

For becoming a republic

With no republic Constitution to guide

Is like the Emperor’s new clothes

With nothing left to hide.

 

Oh, by the way,

As far as I know,

We had an Independence Constitution

That at Independence we could show.

 

That Constitution operates still

In our so-called republic

And only when we get the new one

We can call it quits.

 

 

All the more reason

To leave Independence Day alone

For it remains a stellar marker

That shows how we have grown.

 

 

This postponement, Madam PM,

Should be a total cancellation

For there is never a right time, Mr. Abraham’s,

For unnecessary frustration.

 

 

Leave it alone!

I dare say to all,

Leave Independence Day alone, period!

It’s not your call.

 

Stewart Russell © November 15, 2022