“Ralph tek yuh lix like ah big man and…”

Ah was reliably informed dat Justice Esco Henry is ah woman who dwells constantly in de secret place of de Most High, and occasionally when she receives “His Messages,” she takes time out and delivers dem as sermons from de Altar in Church. Lie-Za who would have heard her at Faith Temple, has no doubts dat de Good Lady is not just ah gifted preacher but ah believer who is covered by de Blood, not afraid to Rule widout Fear or Fear-for against Evil Laws, dat set out to destroy God’s people. And de ole Granny who awakes me so often in de still ah de night, tells me to warn de PM Gone-Soft to “lean not unto his own (mis)-understanding” wid dem self-styled Laws. One recalls in Par-liar-mint last year, August 6th while de Nay-shun was asleep, dey did ah round-de-clock till de wee hours ah de morning, pushing dat Dread Bill to terminate de services of those Public Servants, for refusal to take the Covid-19 Vaccine. But Justice Henry fix dem up good and plenty describing it as: “ Ah breach of Natural Justice, Unlawful, Procedurally Improper and Void!” and is like no one was spared her wrath: “The Public Service Commission, Police Service Commission and the Commissioner of Police misdirected themselves and acted unlawfully,” de judgement reads. Except to say dat dey did not mis-direct
demselves, dey Master Directed dem to sign along de dotted lines.

But in me sleep when ah tell de Ole Granny, dat before de Judge even delivered her Judgement, ULP announced dey go Ah-peel. She told me go tell Sir Louis Straker, to give de PM, de message she had given him foh Arm-In Use-tuss: “ Ralph! Tek yuh lix like ah Big Man and…”

PAMElOS BURKE CALLALO SOUP

Bright and early last Monday ah went to de Pamelos Burke Primary School to keep ah promise ah made wid Ms Jasmine Spencer, head Teacher to share my thoughts wid de students as we’re into Heritage Month and Nah-shun-all Heroes Day. Ah walked wid me Heritage Kit: “Ah Greater, Farine, piece ah Ginger, Cocoa stick, dry Coconut; Tumeric; all de herbs, Mint, Kojo Root, Bay-leaf, me Cuatro and ah Drum and so on. We quiz each other and dey know dey Roots.

Dey recognized de Farine and knew it is ah bi-product of de Cassava. Athalia Neptune, ah bright and brave, lickle nine or ten year ole girl did an excellent job describing how to mek Farine, she told us: “ Yuh have to scrape de Cassava, grate it, wring it and squeeze out de juice, dry it in de sun, den cook/bake it.”

We sang Folk Songs like “Massah say no Wuk today; Obeah Man, Moonlight et al.” Ah heard soft and beautiful voices. De school had drums, but dey need repairs or preferably ah set ah new ones. Would de Nah-shun-all Lottery kindly tek note and sponsor some ah dem schools wid Drums. H.T Spencer invited me to ah Callalo wow! It was hot’n’ delicious so ah promise to advertise Pamelos Burke Prime School Callalo cooked by Chef Petrina Williams and Sue Nell Da Souza. Ah was going foh ah second serving, but somebody shouted out:”We Win De Covid-19 Court Case!” Dat News was good nuff to full me belly! And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

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