international poetry day 2007

SURE REDS

so it is -if yuh aint red

yuh considered dead

me fadder say is victory an’ strength

like we flag unfurled;

ah hear from young : red woman badd

so only eat julie mango if it red

orisha flag red

red as akoko blood fuh sacrificed libation

kalenda man bois tie wid red cloth tuh

fuh de spirits to bust nuff head

jammette does also dress up in red

to giddy man head more dan babash

spiritual baptist mudder red headtie prophesy

ringing bells on de corner

black power red

vast demonstrating power tuh de people

soldiers mutiny an’ de hills ran red

wen coast guard guns bombarded

til’ false amnesty teken fuh granted

as ah muslim in Trinidad

yuh wont be caught dead wearin’ red

except on Hosay midnight

as a flag bearing Shiite

or fasting devotee dancing ah heavy red sun

buh some extremist consider red sin full…

djab colour full ah sexual passions

like bacchanal red for j’ouvert in de blistering early sun

angry protestors marched around de embassy in red jersey

“hands off Grenada! Hands off Cuba!”

til’ sadly.. leadership crisis reared ah ugly head

proletariat blood flowed red in de streets from Fort Rupert

as Maurice like a moor now bishop violently deposed

plus USA wid self appointed red acolytes invaded

dat bloody sad October month in Grenada

was really hot! red hot in dem days

communist…PRG member or Rasta Socialist Marxist Leninist

haunted from door tuh door

soon too red house parliament was invaded for ah coup

an’ dis time de streets ah Port of Spain flowed red wid blood

like wen Ineri rub down red wid roucou

tuh massacre umpteen espanol in sangre grande

or wen nuff rioters pelt big stone

at ah stained glass tuh honour Columbus statue

inna de same red house

fuh Governor Moloney tun red in anger

buh now wen is Hindu Holi time

in mount gay abandon we wood be awash in abeer

singing parang fuh christmas in red

or holier dan thou follow katholic procession

in red fuh la divina pastora

den came de real football fever days

all de way from Port of Spain tuh Nuremburg

fuh de world cup

oui boys in red : soca warriors

de place was awash in red

over a million painted up in red

till de English man pull oui player in red locks

we lose de game

red wid disappointment

so we wine widout cryin’ an’ paint the town red

2007-elections ‘round de corner

politricks in red

oui red again

PNM in red supporters vowing victory befor’ voting

wyle CoP split from UNC shouting

dem rally go be de real RED

even mandey in ah red beret

see reds, sometimes ah does see red

knowin’ me patrimony siphoned abroad

in ah rich hydrocarbon producin’ country

before it red in de sky foredey morn

many still hav tuh watchman standpipe fuh water

if yuh aint red?

“it may not last as long as de red house fire”

© ROI KWABENA