So many times
those things
before us
the eye doesn’t see

The changing tide
we fight with all
our might

Globalization is
the crust
on the economic pie
and nothing is the same
when the day is done

Do you stop to wonder why
sometimes tears fall
simultaneously
when a kiss is planted?

Why good memories
are made of bliss
and bad ones
we defy?

How many times
we see a square
within
a square?

People put on the spot
where in the open air
they squat
in Trafalgar Square
Heroes’ Square
and on
the pier

Do you see in it
the symbolism
as many images appear
and the various opposing views
we hear
and read in the news?

Now I say to you
there stands a Navy man in
Trafalgar Square
which is within
Independence Square
with Barrow
one of our national heroes

I'd say a
squire within a square
pun intended

This foreign hero
of the high seas
fought and died
for the British monarchy

This Lord knows
why he towers high
in the middle of the street
close to those buildings
where parliamentarians meet

Like a sentinel
he guards
the first prominent site
with a barrel of a gun
at his side
near the boardwalk
that hugs the ebbing tide

The man with one-eye
and one hand
has battled many storms
on the seven seas

He looks at hurricanes
in the fury of their eyes
but yet stands steadfastly
as those royal palms
near the bay with feet
in clay
rooted firmly in
the ground

This Admiral
from Norfolk gazes
in full command over
the harbour
the land
and the careenage
the tranquil estuary
full of vessels
those mariners keep

He watches
the ocean deep
and wishes amid the stars
that he could see again
and sail the blue Caribbean Sea

So everyone is staring
but their gazes are looks
of admiration
mixed with condemnation
at his awesome stance
that demands more than
a glance

Tourists
from near and far
pay homage
to this Englishman
with every flash
of the camera’s light
on this their Libra knight

His stony face
you can tell
it's hot from the tropical sun
and he bemoans
the bell that chimes
like Big Ben
in his ears
every hour

and the ever-hovering doves
that mess on his head
he pines
for ladies
of the night
instead

Colonial Bajans
without any fuss
adopted
this gallant man
at the age
of forty-seven
because
of the landmark battle
he won
in eighteen hundred and five

So eight years
after he died
Westmacott’s bronze
of the rector’s son
arrived
in Trafalgar Square
and his memory lives on

So in nineteen hundred and sixty-six
the base of this square
was removed
with much fanfare
and the arch
of Independence
appeared
thus forming a bridge
that links the past
with the future

the Union Jack
it disappeared
and the Broken Trident appeared


Without doubt
our country
is rich in tradition
and is changing
for the better

as most people
are saying

The colonial past we revere
but our Independence
we savour with pride and confidence
owing after the fact
that we look to the future
with God always
having a place in our lives
as we celebrate forty-two years
Of Nationhood

Happy Independence Barbados!

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