No more long talk

When we masH up Carry Come like how we did mash up de Federation, wha we go do next? Form ah next grouping or join ah next grouping ALBA? Ah beg to disagree please.

Yes dey’s serious internal problems, domestic problems in everyone ah de Carry-Come member states, de race ting in Gay-Anna is no worse dan de ate-Nick mess down in Three-knee-daddy-toe-big-oh.{{more}} Bo-bathe-us still in de “class” room and in world rankings Jah-mek-yah is No 3 in Crime and Sin Vin Sin will not be outdone in Rape at No 3 also. De list goes on. Den in de wider world, is food and oil cry-sis, enough to mek yuh throw up yuh hand in de air and give up hope. And dis is why more dan ever we have to stay to-gather as ah region and solve our problems to-get-her.

Prime Minister Gonsalves sounds ah timely warning note to de other Carry-Come leaders when he threatens bout an OECS Eco-nah-mek Yuh-non. Even in my own jon-dis way of thinking, ah feel dat our PM, ah true regional integrationist, couldn’t be serious, he was only giving ah Shake Up call.

True, dat regional institution called Carry Come is like it sound, as fast as dey Carry de ole talk is so dey Come back wid ole talk, real talk shop. But we have been going foh over thirty years and have planted ah lot ah seeds in de ground. And like some people who like to be called farmers, dey plant today, plant something else, plant many more things foh dat matter, (talk is cheap), and den after all de negligence, return on de day of harvest to reap de first seeds sown. It don’t wuk so!

Today Carry Come as ah United States of de Caribbean is still de regions best hope, has de greatest potential foh de region’s survival as it did thirty-five years ago, more so now dan ever. When yuh add de individual components, who got oil, who got rice and sugar, who got fish, bauxite, who got sea water and sand, the best women oops, best men too, and so on, de sum total is unbelievable. But everybody is suspicious ah de other, nobody trust even de best friend, and it will tek time before implicit trust can be established among us as ah people. De biggest hindrance to trust is de Pull-it-tek-al L-E-Mint. We have had such bad experiences wid our leaders, de so unjust we don’t know who to trust. Yesterday Mitchell alone knew what was happening at Ottley Hall, today are we better or more informed about de Argyle Airport dan we were wid Ottley Hall. But ley me finish dis Carry-Come see-me-de-me. Lots ah talk bout OECS Eco-nah-mek Yuh-non. De OECS books looking good on paper, but what do we have in terms of resources. Yes we want to show Carry-Come how to do it. Didn’t Jah-mek-yah try de same ting wid de Federation in 1959? We not learning from our His-story. I am foh Carry-Come. Gonsalves’ declaration is good foh ah Shake Up, but not ah Mash-up! De Carry-Come Union is still in ah nurturing stage, we have had ah batch ah ole or seasoned leaders who have been replaced, lets us hear from dis new lot, Goulding, Thompson, Spencer et al. no more talk shows, do as Kaisonian Blakie say: “No more long talk”

WHAT-AH-MELON

Vincies not into Melon like de Trinnies. In T’n’T Melon is ah big deal, all along de road side de begging yuh to buy ah slice, and it cheap, unlike SVG way ah one pound slice is $3.00. But Melon is about to mek de Quantum Leap. De fruitarians will recommend Melon dat’s because it rich in vitamin A and C and dat is good to help quench the inflammation that contributes to health problems like Asthma, Die-or-be-teased, Colon Cancer and Art-write-dis. Melon also lowers blood pressure and improve insulin sensitivity.

Ah wonder what Dr Ramesetty will say about dat in her weekly column on “Sugar Matters”on Page 44. What-ah-melon good foh Die-or-be-treased?

But de latest find is dat Melon rind got some labour- do sorry, libido properties dat raises de body parts, even the most dormant just like Viagra, yes What-ah-Melon! It reminds me of Marcus De Freitas, he’s now an Organic Tomato Farmer, but when he was minister of Agriculture, he got de ministry to plant ah crop ah Melon at Orange Hill foh export purposes, de export marketing plan failed, not de crop eh, de local market was flooded wid melons, tons ah melon wash down de Rabacca river. Ah believe de rich volcanic soil was ah factor. Since dat glut melon was never cheap again in SVG, right now its $3. 00 ah pound. Wid word on de street dat Melon rind, de skin dat is, is bad like Viagra, de price will be tripled. Now wonder my friends Doc Fraser and Doc Care-not John always shouting What-ah-Melon!

PAIN IN HE TWO KNEE

Ah trying to remember de last time we had ah Kaiso Finals wid seven former Kings challenging de reigning monarch. De other three finalists Black Messenger, Exposer and Patches together have accumulated over one hundred years in de Kaiso business, dey have been vying foh King way back in de 1970’s So Sunday Night’s Final will be serious competition. It too close to call, will Sulle allow de Man Age and “he friend” to win it or can I-Pa “slap” it on again or allow Abijah’s “Jumbie” to do de slapping? How bout de indefatigable Patches? Should we be “sorry now” foh Princess Monique, or let Black Messenger, de dark horse in de race Expose-her foh Rejector’s Mamma? Don’t forget Scakes de ole Fox among dem all, wid Obama’s number he could be on winner’s row. Big show on Sunday night.

And ah will not be surprised when ah get up Sunday morning ah hear Fireman burn down Victoria and didn’t care ah dam “who he hut he hut” Foh de Road March ah like Jamesy P “We will survive” and I-con wid de ole lady wid de arthritis pain in she “Two-Knee”. While Lie-Za has problems wid dat song because her boy friend Lio-owe got arthritis in his Two-Knee, she keep requesting de DJ’s to play de “new wine in ole bag” no fuss she say, even if de ole bag buss! What ah Lie-Za. All yuh be Clean, be Cool and be Careful fo de Carnival. Ladies all yuh play it safe, walk in groups ah three, one of which must be ah male. And wid dat ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

Bassy Alexander is a land surveyor, folklorist and social commentator.