Republic by Name?

 

Into the month of November

How swiftly time has sped!

Since this year began

Many are now dead.

 

Taken out by the pandemic

Still as mysterious as ever,

Many loved ones you’d recall

Were from their families severed.

 

Up in the month of January

Just three and one-half years in

Another election was called:

Another thirty-love win.

 

On January 19, 2022

Barbadians went to the polls

And for the second successive time

Delivered a debilitating blow.

 

 

No opposition in Parliament,

The Senate incomplete

And the humbled DLP losers

Refusing two offered seats.

 

Ten months thereafter

Still no Republic constitution

And many will confess in all honesty

There has been much confusion.

 

After attempts at tinkering

Some objectives had to be scrapped,

Two pertaining to the Senate

Had to be taken back.

 

It was a clear case, I believe,

Of the cart before the horse

And the only way that works well

Is when the cart’s in reverse.

 

On November 30, 1966,

Barrow did his bit

And there was a new constitution

To charter the Nation’s trip.

 

Back then it was clear to all

The horse was pulling the cart

For with the guiding constitution in place

We were running from the start.

 

On November 30, 2021,

It seemed we hadn’t learned a lot,

The decision to first become a Republic

Turned out to be hurried rot.

 

For, into the month of November

And almost a year thereafter,

Barbados is till adrift at sea

Without its Republic Charter.

 

A fool will be a fool

Most of the time

But brilliant people, I dare say,

Sometimes lose their mind.

 

 

Like the cart pulling the horse!

Obviously, it’s in reverse

And the horse will never understand

No matter how much it’s rehearsed.

 

Many missteps were made

From the very beginning

And many should have spoken up

But clearly, they were not willing.

 

That “Haste brings waste”

Is a lesson we are slow to learn,

At first it appears to work but after,

The wheels can scarcely be turned.

 

And so, it is with this Republic,

Still without its guiding Charter,

Almost a year has passed since birth

And the old is still its Master.

 

So, in effect,

An Independent country we are

And, until our Republic Constitution,

That Republic is still afar.

 

  

 

The title deeds are yet to be had

Though we boast we are our own,

But until that constitution be formed

Another is on our throne.

 

Hopefully by next year this time,

All this will be left behind

And a God-inspired Charter

Will occupy the Barbadian mind.

 

And the second line will remain

With God as the people’s Guide

And we can go forward with expectancy

Knowing we are on His side.

 

Stewart Russell © November 1, 2022