Dis Independence I en know wuh we gine do,
Almost evuhting looking brown, an' I blue!
De economy en doin’ well an’ it gine further down
An’ de students at UWI getting de run aroun’.
De IMF at de door an' it begging to negotiate,
De stake holders calling pun evabody to participate,
Dis gine down real rough an’ all o’ we in despair,
UWI students’ promised bursaries just ent appear.
Wuh we gine do is wuh evuhbody want to know,
I pun soursop leaves an’ dem doin’ me good fuh so
'Cause Typhoo an' Liptons tea is a real expense,
Maybe UWI cud turn to de leaves in dem defence.
I hear dat in de USA de leaves cos' real money
An’ dat de breadfruit leaves too is a scarcity,
Should turn to leaves, money doan grow pun trees
Maybe dat way de UWI students cud pay duh fees.
I understand dat dis en no laughing matter
But DEM promised evuhting would a get better,
But instead it seems to me evuhting getting cursed
An’ from wuh I hear fuh de UWI it cud o’ be worse.
I know dat Sir Hillary want a graduate in evuh home,
Dat is very commendable leh me mek dat known,
But how he gine achieve dis really, really beats me
Cause a lot o’dem UWI students cahn afford de fee.
In addition to dat somet'ing becoming mo'e stark,
A lot o’ we graduates still at home, don’t sky lark!
Some got Bachelors an' some got duh Masters too
And maybe a UWI doctorate cud be in de crew.
I also hear dat students in prim'ry en doin’ well
Particularly in Mathematics de Minister did tell,
He wan' to call back teachers dat long gone home,
Maybe time to get some UWI students pun de phone.
Maybe de students cud work fuh dey tuition fees
Wid a little mo'e fuh bus fare and lunch ef you please,
An’ when t'ings begin to look up dem cud go in full time
Or open schools pun de blocks whey UWI students lime.
I am not treating dis lightly cause t'ings real grave,
But cowardly is de fainthearted, action is de brave,
An if we feel we cud sit back an’ get tru all o’ dis
By de end o’ de year UWI plus cud be added to de list.
Me of all people, I cahn afford to fool 'roun',
I too like I hittin' rock bottom and still goin’ down,
It en easy fuh de pensioners now especially wid de NIS
'Cause it appear just like UWI dem too in a big mess.
Somethin' I should say, t'ough, I wud hate tuh forget
How some people dat still workin' does get me upset,
Yuh call to report dat nuff water runnin' down de road
But just like UWI, de turn 'roun’ does be like a great load.
Yuk tek up de phone an’ yuh call a numbuh fuh de place
Nuff water gine de road so yuh tell dem to mek haste,
Fuh days nuttin’ en get done so yuh pick up an’ call back
Only to realize dat, like UWI, dem en mek nuh contac'.
I know dat you wan' know how I know dat fuh sure,
Well, listen carefully to me and I’ll tell you some more,
De information dat yuh gih to dem wen you call at firs’
Like de UWI bursary ting, you must again rehearse.
An’ pun top o’ dat you doan be de only body dat phone,
De more I tink ‘bout dis situation, de more I does groan,
Thank you for calling us but someone called before,
If they hadn’t moved quickly, UWI’s fees would be more.
I en know wuh we gine do, I got ta say it over an’ again
Dese developments ‘bout hey causing we great pain,
O Sir Hillary, if only your dream could be attained
We’d have plenty of UWI graduates and no jobs to gain.
Could de answer be in de garbage ‘long de countryside?
Piled so high at times that behine it a t’ief could hide?
More often than not it doan get pick up accordin' to plan,
UWI students might manage it better on de other han’.
Some hifalutin’ person suggested dat we call an election
But elections are real costly, don’t make dat kind o’ fun,
Just ask the sitting members in de house to step down
An’ move parliament to de UWI, de halls of de renown.
Amongst the brilliance which pervades that august assembly,
Along with the aristocracy, the plantocracy, and our history,
There must be solutions to the huge problems that we face,
I call on the UWI to save our country from further disgrace.
A recent case in point is our West Indies cricketers,
Once a group of cricket misfits and money grabbers,
Now looking more assured and even opponents dem beating
Compliments of UWI sports academy and Cave Hill teaching.
I en know wuh DEM gine do but I have put my case,
I know many out there would consider me out of place,
But we spen' a lot o’ money pun UWI up in Cave Hill
An’ it is full time that UWI stan’ up and foot de bill.
Dis Independence like it gine be a real stark reminder
When Barbados was Los' an’ nuh body couldn’t find her,
Sir Hillary, like me an’ you, he too doan have a clue
Whilst all o’ dis time dem UWI students’ fees still due.
Evuhbody got an opinion' wid de IMF lurking at we door,
De downgrades getting Moody and de Standards Poor,
De Trinis tekking over an’ we now part o’ Trin-Barba-Go
De UWI law students at St Augustine did hurtin' fuh so.
De Barbadians studying there couldn’t raise de fee
To complete dey bar exams and add to dey law degree,
Up 'til now I still en too sure how dat was resolved
But note dat in dis last line de UWI still involved.
Stewart Russell © 2014
