A Dead Body and a Body

  

A dead body and a body

Are not the same,

If for one moment you thought so

Then you are insane.

 

If you say the two aloud

Even this is different,

Say the two as if in conversation;

Do so with intent!

 

A dead body and a body

See what I mean?

Come on man, say it like a Bajan

At a specific scene.

 

All too regular these days-

The scene, I mean,

And the authorities are so helpless

I could scream.

 

  

 

But you get the point

I am trying to get across:

One is quite all right but the other

Signals a loss.

 

The police never say

A man was discovered

Or for that matter if it were a woman,

They say neither.

 

A was body was discovered,

They say instead

And straight off the back we know,

The body was dead.

 

A dead body and a body?

Not the same thing:

One is for all purposes surely dead

While the other is living.

 

 

 

That is English for you

Regarding comprehension

But a good old Bajan can pick meaning

Just by inflection.

 

A dead body and a body:

A difference in inflection,

For a person who is musically inclined,

It’s easy detection.

 

The syllables in the former

Will carry the same tone

While the second syllable in the latter

Is in a higher zone.

 

 

 

A dead body and a body

Sweet Bajan talk-sing,

But one body is dead as a door nail;

The other is living.

 

Stewart Russell © March 26, 2026