Listen to de lickle birdie

We don’t bother wid de Seasons out here, we don’t have to, foh us is either rain or sun, wet or dry. But during my first winter in western Canada with temperatures thirty below zero, ah couldn’t wait foh Spring. Any morning that looked bright and sunny like home, ah would call to Mr. Swanson, my landlord and say emphatically: “ Spring is here”! He would shake his head and smile: “ Listen for de Birds, Sebastian”. Den one fine April morning, when de birds finally came, ah overslept and missed dey arrival. There was ah knocking on my door and ah heard Mr Swanson’s voice, full ah excitement he shouted: “It’s Spring Sebastian, De Birds are here just listen to dem”! He too was anxiously waiting foh Spring but foh me it was ah relief. Coming from ah tiny Caribbean island way one is bombarded from dawn to dust into de still ah de night wid all kind ah Bird sounds, when is not de “monkey Eric” is de fore-day morn crowing ah de rooster or de whistling ah the sparrows and prince, not to forget de eerie screeching of de owls at nights, ah never knew dat de sound of ah Bird contained such ah beautiful message, it was ah relief to months ah mental anxiety.{{more}}

After dat Winter-Spring experience ah took ah liking and appreciation foh de Sounds ah de Birds. Yuh know how Sir Vin-Sin did say how he does listen to de Lickle White Angel foh inside info? Well over de years ah have been able to get important info from de Lickle Birdie Sounds as well. Lie-Za is ah boss at getting her tips from de Birds, she got ah Bird Sanctuary. She was telling me dat she was feeding her Birds and she overheard one ah de Pigeons asking ah Ground Dove if is true de Medical College closing down. Ground Dove said yes and dat de reason foh de closure is nothing to do wid all de incidences ah House Break-in and Rob-in and Rape-in.

Ah cut in on her story and told her dat ah got me Lickle Birdie dat does feed me with info, mine is de Doctor Bird, she buzzes in and out ah de porch, no long stay, but long enough to tell me dat de Guv-ah-nah General, who started de school from day one, was trying to coax de Directors of de College in de USA to stay on, but de folks blank de G.G. Doctor Bird told me in con-fee-dence dat while Chavez was bashing de US when he was here in SVG telling us de Gringo must go, States Department was making notes. And dey been making note how de Cubans gradually taking up permanent residence here to build another airport like Grenada. Dey have had dey experience wid de Grenada Revolution, having to invade dat country to free up dey Medical Students trapped on de island, so to avoid another Vinvasion, dey gave instructions to move de students out.

De Lickle Doctor Bird explained dat de reason given for de two Cruise Ships dat diverted from SVG two weeks ago, claiming dat de lack lustre World Cup Cricket has given reason foh de cruise operators to change course, is ah lot ah rubbish, de order has been De Gringo will go and Gringo will I-so-late de Gildingi.

When Arm-in Eustace was asked what he thinks about SVG Far-reign policy of turning its back on its ole so-called friends USA, Canada and de UK foh new faces like Cuba and Venezuela, he said we setting we-self up foh ah fall. Ah think his word is coming true. As an in-de-pen-dent nation we must bargain and negotiate but never subject we-selves as being anybody’s satellite or pulpit. We must balance de scales and mek solid decisions dat will not be detrimental to our nationals home and abroad. Ah say nationals abroad because de boundaries of de Vincy society stretches far beyond de shores of our lickle island. Ah Vincy is never disconnected from his/her homeland, dat connection is maintained thru remittances dat run into millions ah dollars annually and cannot be slighted or brushed aside by ah Chavez or Castro.

Mr. Chavez is de USA’s biggest critic today, he’s bigger dan Castro, but Chavez’s pride will never allow him to openly admit dat de USA is de largest importer of his Venezuelan products. While he is hell-bent on creating problems foh de US, in de process he wants to dangle Venezuela’s oil over de heads of de less fortunate Caribbean islands with one condition, we must join him in his verbal missile attacks on de Gringos. How come de Jap-ha-knees who have given us substantial Aid, who got great cause to hate de US ain’t dictating anti US conditions to us? How come de Tie-one-knees who have given us much in Aid, not dictating anti US conditions to us. We cannot afford to put all we eggs in one basket.

We are de lickle fish in de pond, and we must learn to find feed among de Whales and de Sharks and don’t set ourselves up like baits to get swallowed by any ah dem. We must listen to de Birds, de Garling and de Turkey. Garling with caution say “Trust no shadow, every shadow could be ah gun,” and Turkey foh survival say “Every Turkey must fight foh his own craw”. And I say is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy