My Requests

 

 

On this 56^th Independence eve

And the 1st for our fledgling republic,

I have some requests I would like to make

That I hope would be taken in good spirit.

 

I am watching the town hall meetings

Regarding the new republic constitution,

And I still wonder why we put out to sea

Without a ship to sail the ocean.

 

But that is all in the past

And that is one thing we cannot change,

Not even God has ever attempted it

Or any historic event rearranged.

 

So, let’s stop crying over spilt milk

Would be the first of my requests,

And let us chart a future for our country

To relieve some of its present stress.

 

Please examine the amount of borrowing

Knowing that we have to pay it back

And the investments that are in the pipeline,

Please hurry up and get them on track.

 

Do appreciate the taxes are horrendous

Especially on the most vulnerable,

There must be a limit within reasonableness

To tax already disheartened people.

 

Commercial banks and insurance companies

Are nothing short of a rip-off!

If they don’t profit as much as before

They actually call it a loss.

 

And they both use the people’s money

To service their huge clientele

For, they have no money of their own

With which they can buy and sell.

 

 

Compare the interest they charge on loans

With their insult on people’s deposits,

I really would like to see a change going forward

Regarding this deplorable habit.

 

I have to stick with my old car

Obviously because I can do no better

But paying its insurance does not benefit me

Given this silly third-party matter.

 

I must say the Government is no better

Given the albatross known as land tax

For even people in their nineties still pay

And I know this to be a fact.

 

Maybe these matters are not as critical

When compared to some other matters

But I believe they need also to be included

Within the Constitution chatter.

 

Much of the parish speak discussion

Has been focused on sexual orientation

And this is particularly baffling to me

Given the template of creation.

 

What right does a same sex couple

Have to children other than their own?

What parental models will cater to that child

Until that child is fully grown?

 

What importance are mother and father

In the light of two of the same sex?

How does this shape our young republic

Regarding the young generation and the next?

 

 

Spare a thought for the children

Less we commit national genocide

For until our technology creates a human cell,

Same sex couples won’t produce a child.

 

Whether we are a Christian society or not

I would not argue about this

But if we dare take God out of the equation

There is much that we will miss.

 

For there is no moral compass without Him

Whether agnostic or atheist

And He is the bedrock of every human society

Regardless of what we may insist.

 

With that said I would like to request

We leave the National Anthem alone,

Especially the beginning of the second stanza

With which Barbadians are at home.

 

Be careful how you pander to minorities

Beyond ensuring their human rights

For, should they be allowed to overrule the majority,

Absolutely bizarre will be our plight.

 

Democracy will be through the door

Seeing theocracy left long ago,

And where our beautiful country will end up,

Neither you or I know.

 

 

For as we deal with globalization

And as we traverse its myriad seas,

We will need a reliable compass for our ship of state

To separate the dog from its fleas.

 

Lest we destroy the dog with the fleas

And throw out the baby with the bathwater

And determine that the genitals of our children

No longer determine son or daughter.

 

Family, community and nationhood:

Therein are our building blocks,

And if we continually falter on the first of these,

Our ship of state will find the rocks.

 

These are my basic requests

And to you they may seem like a few

But they speak to Creator God and the people,

And there is no better view.

 

Stewart Russell © November 29, 2022