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
