What a One-Dah-Full World

Today ah give Praise and Thanks to de All Mighty, de All Power-ful God, who has allowed me to climb de stairs and see de eighty-second floor. And today I find solace and comfort in de lyrics of ah very ole but beautiful song: “What ah One-dah-full World”
by Louis Armstrong.

Verse 1 says: “I see trees of green….Red Roses too….I see them bloom…for me and you….and I think to myself…what a wonderful world!”

Lie-Za anxious to know what really did I see during my four score and two years. So ah gave her Verse 2 of de song: “I see skies of blue…and clouds of white…the bright blessed day…the dark sacred night…and I think to myself…what a wonderful world!”

Ah was around to see de last ah de Colonial Administrators and soon after dey left, de steady demise of our Sea Island Cotton, Sugar Cane wid Molasses, Sugar and Rum; Arrowroot; de largest single Coconut Field in de world produced Oil, Soap and Animal Feed; de Green Gold in Bananas. I survived de ravages of two volcanic eruptions.

I did see de gradual erosion of de values of our good ole Motto, Pax et Justitia (Peace and Justice) in SVG as Crime, Violence, Drugs and Corruption literally Run Things here. One murder is one too many, but SVG has moved from one murder ah year in de 1950’s to ah record 47 in 2023 wid two months to go. Ah always remember dat Carnival Tuesday Night in de 1950’s, dey was ah brawl between two gangs, Five Young Men, four from Green Hill vs one from Pauls Lot who was stabbed to death. Our Police were vigilant den. While one of de four men escaped on ah boat and made it to TnT, heard he met wid Karma in TnT; de youngest was given Life imprisonment, and de other two were hanged one morning at 7:00 am right in de Prison Compound in Kingstown. Hundreds witnessed de Gallows shaking, mankind bawl foh murder dat morning. Interestingly dat like it scared men wid murder on dey mind foh ah while.

Now how do we explain ah few months ago, when Five Young Men were Gunned down on de spot in Kingstown. No arrests yet, no one charged yet. Dey are among 47 homicides foh 2023. Lie-Za say to add “May dey Rest In Peace” and look at de bright side!

Ah was surprised she knew de song and actually sang Verse 3 foh me: “The colours of the rainbow…so pretty in the sky… are also on the faces of people going by…I see friends shaking hands…saying, how do you do, they’re really saying…I love you!”

Upon reflection, gone are de days when Near-bars uses to look out foh each other’s well being, held each other’s hand; families went to church and sat together; today family devotions happen only when help from de Master is needed. Children today no longer go to Sunday School, de Institution dat helped to instill Love, Peace and Godliness in youngsters..” Yuh see de line : “The colours of the Rainbow… so pretty in de Sky” belongs to Mitchell and Ralph dubbed “SVG’s Nah-shun-all and Enter-Nah-shun-all Birds respectively.

The last verse is powerful, it says: “I hear babies cry…I watch them grow…They’ll learn much more Than I’ll ever know…And I think to myself..What a wonderful world yes… I think to myself, What a wonderful world Ooh Yes.” And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

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