Deep Obeah

By Roi Guanapo Ankhkara Kwabena


I wish I was an obeah man
I wish I was an obeah man
I wish I was an obeah man
I wish I was an obeah man

I wish I was an obeah man
to light a big mauve candle
and throw light on evils throughout the global village

I wish I was an obeah man
to right the wrongs but
not for a nobel prize
only to feed the hungry children
and poor people.

I wish, I wish I was an obeah man
to enable sight through the lies
and chase away the flies of broken promises.

I wish, I wish I was an obeah man
to decide an end to austerity measures
establish a real world order
destroying racism
and political debauchery.

I wish, I wish I was an obeah man
and run them foreign conglomerates
who exact profits in a new wave of deception.

I wish I was an obeah man
to obliterate nepotism
I wish I was an obeah man
to manifest and distribute spirit blows.

I wish I was an obeah man
I wish I was an obeah man
I wish I was an obeah man

I wish I was an obeah man
I wish I was an obeah man
I wish I was an obeah man
to light a big mauve candle
and throw light on evils throughout the global village
I wish I was an obeah man
and wuk some true, true obeah.

I wish I was an obeah man
to right the wrongs
I wish I was an obeah man
destroying racism,
I wish I was an obeah man
to feed the hungry children and poor people
I wish I was an obeah man
and wuk some true, true obeah...

See text-only version of this piece
Source: Reprinted with kind permission of the author
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A Note From The Gull

For those needing to purchase Dr. Kwabena's works, please visit his storefront at Lulu.com.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

As A Nation Forges On [Song]

Uploaded by trinidesi
AS A NATION FORGES ON
By Denyse Plummer

Sound the horn
Let us play our anthem aloud
Beat the drums whilst our nation forges on
Blow the whistle and come
All j----- just done
Tighten your belt and let's do our nation proud.

Chorus:
Well we beat we chest and we masqueraded and carried on
As if to say, "Mission accomplished, oil money can't done."
Now the tides have turned
Tringonians must walk alone
These lonely roads that most wise men fear to tread
So let us hold our heads high to salvation or to reconstruction
And build back this blessed nation.

Justice delayed
is justice withheld, denied
so hold your pride and use tolerance as your guide
chant a slogan once more
let's man this vessel ashore
together we can take this nation to promised land.

Chorus:
Well, we beat we chest and we masqueraded and carried on
As if to say, "Mission accomplished, oil money can't done."
Now the tides have turned
Tringonians must walk alone
It's a lonely road that most wise men fear to tread
So let us hold our heads high to salvation or to reconstruction
And build back this blessed nation.

Hear the children:
We want we money, bring back we money
We want we money, bring back we money
We want we money, bring back we money
We want we money, bring back we money...

Now's the time to display spiritual strength
And hold on to what's not already gone
Use human resources, gather -------- forces
So united we stand to keep a model nation.

Chorus:
Well, we beat we chest and we masqueraded and carried on
As if to say, "Mission accomplished, oil money can't done"
But now the tides have turned
Tringonians must walk alone
These lonely roads that most wise men fear to tread
So let us hold our heads high to salvation or to reconstruction
And build back this blessed nation.

Again we rise, that should come as no surprise
We shall again lead
---------------------
Rome wasn't built in one day
Don't care what nobody say
To hell with what's gone, we chidren have to live on.

Well we have we steelband an limbo and we sweet calypso
And we are so proud of these achievements wherever we go
So, if de money gone? Dat doh mean we done
We surely have the talent to get back some, it eh done
Come on and hold your heads high to salvation or to reconstruction
And build back this blessed nation.

The people crying:
We want we money, bring back we money
We want we money, bring back we money
We want we money, bring back we money
We want we money, bring back we money...

Source: The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance!

..............................................................................................................................
"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

Heroes [Poem]

HEROES
By Lesley-Ann Brown

We are the
Heroes
Of this situation

We who still
Smile at each other in
Grocery stores
Despite
The news

We who still
Ride our bikes
Late at night,
In so-called ghettoes.

We
Are the heroes
Of this situation

We who still
Ride buses &
We who still
Wear veils

We who remember
Who we are
although they
seem to all
Want us
To forget.

We are
The true heroes of
This situation

We who teach
Children
With softness in
Our eyes

Who give
Seats to the elderly &
The tired

We who see
Past whiteness
& browness &
into the universal
blackness of
humanity's iris.

We who don't hate because
of what somebody's
ancestors had done to our ancestors
we who don't judge
based
on a minority's stupidity
We who have
Courage
To try something new
Even if that something means
Cracking open
That curtain
To let the sun shine
Into our musty
Ignorance.

Source: Reprinted with kind permission of Lesley-Ann Brown
.............................................................................................


A Note From The Gull

Just recently, I came across the blog of Lesley-Ann Brown, "Black Girl on Mars: Notes on a life in Copenhagen" There is so much to capture the reader's interest on this blog, not the least of which is the author's active intellectual and personal engagement in a stimulating life and her ability to engage the reader while sharing her experiences and insights. One of the pieces which I found myself revisiting is her Youtube video called "Heroes". In it the author has put her poem to music with the aid of the musician, Woody. In this poem, she acknowledges the heroic everyday contributions of ordinary people, the ones who despite all reports to the contrary, continue to believe that goodness is alive and well. These are the "true heroes of this situation."

Lesley-Ann generously agreed to share her work on this blog as a tribute to all the Trinbagonians who heroically hold the fort day after day despite the attrition of all our societal ills. I join with her to thank my fellow Trinbagonians for, among many other gifts, the simple benedictions of their gentle and often musical "Good Morning's" or "Good Evening's." It is something that many take for granted but a custom which I personally find to be comforting and uplifting. My life abroad has trained me to steel myself against the blank stares that I often receive in response to my greetings.

Thank you Lesley-Ann and all the Trinbagonian heroes who will not surrender to despair.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

Le Roi

This is the first time that I am speaking about the most recent development in the life of my friend, Roi Kwabena. My feelings are consistently positive and there has been no room for grief. The emotion that remains in its place can be more accurately described as a consternation over the persistent reports of his departure.

As Guanaguanare, I continue to fly, though more increasingly in silence these days, and in my wanderings, I have yet to feel the absence of Roi. My wings and soul continue to ride the currents of his uplifting presence. For some, the question might be, "Where is Roi?" For me, the question is, "Where is Roi not?" Cliched as this expression has become, I will use it once again - Roi will continue, as always, to be the wind beneath our wings.

In our e-mail correspondence, he would often end his messages with a special line of encouragement. He may have blessed others with similar expressions but I always felt that they were specially composed for me and I looked forward to these parting lines.

I list below some of these signature farewells, in the original colours and fonts, that I received from Roi:

swim deep as manatee
levitate as a kolibri
chanting like a macaw
SINGING as COKI
blowing like sandfly

fly high like a condor from los iros to guayaguayare

wade as an anaconda
dig deeper than anteater

I am following Roi, I am trying. Rod Stewart said it best in his song "Sailing:"

I am flying, I am flying
Like a bird, across the sky
I am flying, passing high clouds
To be with you, to be free.

Thank you, Roi Guanapo Ankhkara Kwabena, for flying with me.

Than you for continuing to honour the ancestors and their descendants yet unborn.

Thank you for loving Trinidad and Tobago and for being one of its most devoted ambassadors.

Thank you for the kindness and generousity that you always show me and which I have never been able to match.

Thank you for being a brother and a friend.



glimmer like the green horsewhip...

The ancestors are pleased.


"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare