An SOS to All Barbadians

Who is a “B” or who is a “D”?

Let us open our eyes and see

That for right now

That shouldn’t matter to you or me.

In matters of life or death

Feuding families come together

Ceasing their fight against one another

To combat any stormy weather.

Where there is a common foe

There must be a common cause

And hence a common understanding

Our fights must be put on pause.

There is a greater battle

Than the fight between “B” and “D”,

A distress signal has been issued

And requires national unity.

An SOS to cease all infighting

To abort the skirmishes that distract

And engage the common enemy

In an all out concerted attack.

For the disadvantages are common

Given the enemy’s persistent onslaught

But also to us the benefits

Which our past victories have brought.

An SOS against all crime

That has brought us to our knees

And against every kind of violence

Internal and across the seas.

An SOS to every church

That is named after the name of God

To discern every wicked spirit

And expose every single fraud.

An SOS to all our politicians

Which are seeking their self-interests,

This fight is not about their cause

But for Barbados in which we invest.

An SOS to halt the money laundering

The cleaning of dirty money

And the equally conniving practice

Of out and out wholesale bribery.

An SOS to public and private workers

To render an honest day’s work

And for our unions also to frown

On their charges that constantly shirk.

An SOS to all of our teachers

Whether in nursery, primary or tertiary

To advance the cause of our nation

By accentuating their students’ abilities.

An SOS to the fellows on the block

To be guardians of their community

And to desist from undesirable behaviour

That undermines that security.

An SOS to all Barbadians

Right here in our country and abroad

To be great ambassadors for Barbados

And all her achievements applaud.

Yes, an SOS on this Independence

To stand up for justice and right

A distress signal to every Barbadian

To help Barbados through this night.

To a brighter dawn tomorrow

For all that make the sacrifice

To every Barbadian at home and abroad

That is willing to pay the price.

An SOS, I remind you

Whether you are a “B” or a “D”

To join hand in hand in this national call

And save our wonderful country.

Stewart Russell © November 2018

Lest We Forget

Lest we forget the blood sweat and tears

Lest we forget the prayers

Lest we forget the back-breaking toil

That brought us through the years.

Lest we forget the moral underpinnings

Which have served our country well

Or the faithfulness of Almighty God

Which the second verse of our anthem spells.

Lest we forget the message of the book

Regarding the treatment of our neighbour

Or the nurturing of our children

And the modelling of good behaviour.

Lest we forget the “pride and industry”

That our national motto demands

And that righteousness is the way forward

If we are to benefit from God’s plan.

Lest we forget that crime doesn’t pay

And that retribution is still a reality today,

Lest we forget we don’t have the last word

But God has the final say.

Let us now turn our hearts heavenward

In cognition of God’s faithfulness

And give Him thanks and praise

For we are a people truly blessed.

Fifty-two years of Independence and before

God has been our guide,

Faithful to us through thick and thin

Though we oft wandered from His side.

Spared the ravages of many a storm

And protected so far from political upheaval

While seamlessly changing administrations

We should never be a forgetful people.

So less we forget the goodness of God

Let’s take a few precious moments right now

And in acknowledgement of His benevolence

With grateful hearts before Him bow.

  

Give us grateful hearts, we pray

Heavenly Father, lest we forget your love

And remind us in the good times and bad

Every single blessing comes from above.

As we celebrate 52 years of Independence

We pray that you will be our principal object

And that our eye of faith will be on you

The one that has never failed; lest we forget.

Remind us that righteousness exalts a nation

But with an evil bent a reproach we can expect,

That you deserve our reverence and respect:

Remind us of these things Lord, lest we forget.

Stewart Russell © November 2018

 

Could Fool You But Not Me

You could believe it If you want

But not me

Columbus come bout here and fool wunna

But not me

In 1492

Columbus sailed the ocean blue

Three little ships he get from the queen

And he come down here to fool you

But not me

The Pinta, the Nina, the Santa Maria

They told me this in school

And would you believe it?

Wunna sit down and drink it in like fools

But not me

They say they discovered Barbados

But I went to the States too

And I see things that I never see before

Would you say I discover the States?

Would you?

When he arrived in the region

People were living ‘bout here

To say that he discover the place

To me that didn’t sound fair.

Maybe the Indians living here

He feel were nobodies

That is why he could discover the place

And fool all o’ wunna but not me.

I hope wunna see what I getting at

Open wunna eyes and see

Columbus and dem could fool wunna

But not me.

I could tell wunna what happened

Wunna could believe or doubt me

But when Columbus arrive here

He wasn’t the only body.

Even before 1492 people were here

Don’t tell me shut my mout’

I mean the Amerindians

Dem is who I talking bout.

I am no fool I want wunna to know

Amerindians were here when they arrived

But they came and took over

And few of these natives survived.

Stewart Russell © September 2018

Independence

Independence, Independence

The word that’s in the air,

Barbadians at home and abroad

Celebrating our fifty-second year.

Lighting up from November 1^st

The indication we have begun

One whole month of celebration

For every single bajan.

We are proud of this country

And thankful to Almighty God,

And for the progress we have made

We sound out a loud applause.

There’s much to shout about

Though some things make us sigh

But we have weathered many storms

And that we cannot deny.

 

 

With God’s help we have come afar

With His strength we will go on,

With faith in Him consistently

We will see the brighter dawn.

Independence, Independence

Let us lift our hearts to heaven

To the one who sent His Son

So that we might be forgiven.

He’s the centre of our puzzle

Without whom it can’t be fixed,

Failure will stare us in the face

If he is omitted from the mix.

It matters not how big we think

Or how great we think we are,

It is still the Almighty God

Who has brought us safe this far.

In times of progress and success

There is a tendency to forget

And later as we reflect

We do so with much regret.

  

We take this time today

And for everyday of this month

To reflect on the passage of time:

In failure and in triumph.

Learning the lessons of the former

And giving praise for the latter,

Doing our best on the climbs

And making up time on the flatter.

Independence, Independence

A charter to be pursued,

Interdependence when necessary

With those of a common view.

Never forgetting those values

That gave impetus to our cause…

Those long established morals

Which are enshrined in our laws.

So with heart and hand and voice

To the plough, to the plough, to the plough

Working assiduously for the “FUTURE”

While taking care of the “NOW”.

In unity and accord

And a firm conviction of purpose,

Agitating for the common good

Void of self-indulging fuss.

Independence, Independence

In this lovely month of November

Let us celebrate our country Barbados

And make this a time to remember.

Stewart Russell © November 2018