Poetry Nest

Barbados Postage Stamps Speaking Volumes - Part III

2011-10-12T09:43:00.000-07:00

(in Ballad Meter)

With texture of a marshmallow,
The rock sat in Barrow;
Proudly wrapped in Broken Trident;
The Union Jack silent.
A bold shift in Bajan postage;
The royal head abridge;
When Queen Elizabeth gave back,
With great poise, and great tact.

This rock, her ancestors sliced up;
Lapping royal tea-cup;
In sixteen twenty five.
Each slice on human rights deprive;
More than three hundred years preserved;
Before new Queen observed;
Her reign brings to Bajans new hope,
And a new skipping rope.

Each postage stamp bears Bajan craft;
Drives postal photograph;
With themes, and scenes of our land;
Sir Garry from Bayland;
Cricketer from Police Sports Club;
Queen Elizabeth dubbed;
Sir Garfield Sobers on the field;
Greatest all-rounder kneeled.

Bajan's living legend knighted;
Captaincy accepted;
Sir Frank Worrell was his mentor;
His batting caused uproar
That pleased, huge crowds around the ground
Joy round him did surround
Sir Garfield St Auburn Sobers.
Collie Smith, he ponders...

Traumatic time indeed for him;
Drinking tears kept him slim;
Hits six sixes in one over;
Pleasing crowds, moreover,
On six consecutive balls in cricket,
From powerful wicket;
Seeing on postage Sir Gary;
Hones, cricket mastery.

In my head now, October nine;
This thought floods brain of mine;
The anniversary, Tony!
With strong roots universally;
In eighteen sixty four,
This much I do recall and more;
The arrival of World Post Day
I's today; so they say.

Reflecting now on UPU
Headquarters for mail crew,
Of the Universal Postal,
A problem-solving hull;
A Union, we take for granted,
And benefits charted;
The UPU in many ways;
Hugs Bajan postal trays.

With pride and appreciation;
We in this small nation;
Celebrate World Post Day with hearts
In Bern's postal ramparts;
Of Swiss' Confidence they instill;
In our postal mill;
Impacting all living beings
For WNS postings.

© Paterika Hengreaves
October 9, 2011/Barbados

Working on Part IV
Please check back later

Barbados Postage Stamps Speaking Volumes - Part II

2011-10-05T02:54:00.000-07:00

(In Ballad Meter)

Interestingly enough this;
This postage stamp depicts
Britannia, Roman goddess,
On postage face impress.
What are the images you see?
Neptune god of the sea;
Which Britannia personified;
The Romans canonized.

Britannia the old fashion
Name, poured on Great Britain;
Female personification;
Of the island Britain;
Like Neptune she holds a trident;
Three prongs are evident.
Neptune rode waves with seahorses;
Well Britannia does.

For crying out loud here this thing;
On Barbados acting
Like she is, Great Britain's England;
Wears tag, "Little England".
Barbados stamps from the outset;
Mirrored England's stamp set;
Postage stamps icons during the,
Victorian era.

Look at postage stamp one farthing;

Give credence and backing;

Much more is on this postage plate;

So let's reiterate;

Barbados story of money,

Few words stated mintly;

Three and a half centuries ago,

Crown's grip on it did show.

Pounds shillings and pence, changeable;

British money table;

Four farthings, one penny it is;

Twelve pence one shilling,Chris.

Imagery on the stamps does say;

Victoria holds sway;

Eighteen thirty-seven young queen;

On the throne at eighteen.

What are the two pees worth today?
Such reckoning would say
In Barbados money, six cents;
Inflation dents the fence.
Imperialist's grip on Bimshire
Postage stamps, front and rear;
Dubbed Barbados Britannias
Seen on mail at Christmas.

These Britannias had much themes:
Sea, land, air, and dog scenes
Celebrations, and so much more;
Seen in each stamp photo;
Look at Britannias below,
And see how those themes glow;
In this postage stamp gallery;
Compiled for you gladly.

Did these Bajan Britannias

Suffer asthenias?
No way, they had power to stir
The colonial air;
Feeding the lungs of royalty,
And their entrenched army,
The largest Empire on earth;
With glory and self-worth.

Two centuries these British knaves
Britannia, ruled the waves;
Politics play on sticky squares;
Land owners billionaires;
Hindsight sees the bad and the good;
Sherwood housed Robin Hood;
Empire and George VI would die;
His daughter is not shy.

In the year nineteen sixty-six,
Elizabeth did fix
Imperial wrongs, she addressed;
Her Commonwealth cleaned mess;
Bajan Brittanias lost mark;
Independence stamps spark;
Britain no longer holds this rock;
Forty-five years we lock.

Barbados Postage Stamps Speaking Volumes - Part I

2011-10-03T07:48:00.000-07:00

(In Ballad Meter)

Barbados postage stamps for you;

Plenty facts stuck with glue;

These sticky little squares do show;

Monarchy you should know;

What rates for the weights they must hold,

On papers new or old?

Postage stamps do tell true stories;

Not of Whigs and Tories.

Revenue for the government;

Stamps legal document;

We make love to those sticky squares;

With kisses; glue adheres;

Queen Victoria days of yore;

Penny Post at the door;

World's first known postmark who carved it?

Henry Bishop made it.

Who gave us the adhesive stamp?

Was Rowland Hill, the champ;

Barbados postage stamps left clues;

On kings and queens infuse;

On this half penny stamp of green;

Historical facts seen;

A crown that floats above a head;

What message does it spread?

During Victorian era,
He wore a crown never;
A consort he was her husband
She proposed to this man
Strong woman would made that occur
He said yes, yes after
Acrostics she did; he liked chess
They both played with success.

Queen Victoria on the throne
Morality enthroned
To such a far flung colony;
Barbados, so tiny;
Growing sugarcane island's crop;
And slaves working non-stop;

No wage, in pounds shillings and pence;

Worked the fields; heat intense.

Cutting sugarcane for dray carts;

Fed the mills, poor, poor, hearts!

Bedchamber crisis at Palace;

Peel resigned from office.

More to come. Check back later. Thank you.

Rhyme Scheme for the National Anthem of the USA

2011-09-28T22:52:00.000-07:00

The Star Spangled Banner
By Francis Scott Key 1814

Stanza 1                                                                   Rhyme Scheme

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light                                a
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?               b
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,           a
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?          b
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,                    c
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.              c
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave                         d
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?                    d

Stanza 2

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,                e
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,                    f
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,                    e
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?                             f
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,                     g
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:                               g
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave                       D
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!                      D

Stanza 3

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore                          c
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,                          h
A home and a country should leave us no more!                           c
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.             h
No refuge could save the hireling and slave                                 d
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:                      d
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave                    D
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!                     D

Stanza 4

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand                             i
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!                   h
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land          i
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.        h
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,                        j
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."                              j
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave                  D
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!                  D

Someone on this blog asked: What is the rhyme scheme of "The Star Spangled Banner"? So here it is. The capital letters in the Rhyme Scheme indicate repeated rhymes.

ab ab cc dd      ef ef gg DD      ch ch dd DD      ih ih jj DD

Autumn Haiku

2011-09-23T07:23:00.000-07:00

Happy Autumn trends
Many leaves are falling now
This silly season

© Paterika Hengreaves

Read more: Avian Christmas Dish Wish

Ode to Poetry

2011-09-19T13:20:00.000-07:00

(Modern American Ode)

Since poetry is the food of the senses
Cart me loads of wholesome flesh,
Beneath skin and on the bone;
Like a flamingo, I take my time to pick,
And eat with delightful intensity,
Savory slices of great poetry.

With beak-like quills
Of granite, flint and stone,
In jaws ever clinching,
Opening ready to unwind;
Flinging words, like flying feathers,
Each crafted thought
Cascading down,
With riddled and sensuous thrills;
Those myriads of cognitive sparks,
Lighting up the mind.

Oh give me poetry to make me grow;
A little fat and a bit of this, and that;
Succulent slices of great poetry;
Poetic ancestors boldly left behind.

© Paterika Hengreaves

Ode to Sweet Revenge - Ground Zero Never

2011-09-07T11:55:00.000-07:00

He is cleaning the House; they want it done with lightning speed
Such a measure was not required of former Potuses
Different benchmark and strokes they demand of President Barack
Doesn't matter what Obama does; cold water poured on his back
Blackberries they vowed to weed out from among their bushes
For bush tea, they do say has given them strong Constitution
Forget the two wars with hidden goals that tanked their economy;
Have no axe to grind, don't live in your land but strain the pulp from facts
You serve through space, on special interest buffet plates
From afar, vision clear with a mind that gets at the core of the bones;
Findings shared with blood relatives born and bred Americans
So here the beef feeding my head on a tropical island
Let me tell you folks with forgetful and selected memories
Some of the startling facts truthful hearts dear not deny.

Having pledged to get that bastard "dead or alive" failed; why?
The economy tanked as Wall Street mixes steel with play-dough
Fat cats hold tight their money and loot; Madoff’s clans no longer glow
Dirt in the laundry reaching sky high;
Washing machine agitates on wiki leaks assault
And by George! Two full terms served
In that great mansion in Washington
Rejoined family fortunes in southern Texas far from Wilmington
Leaving the dinner table with heaps of left-overs
For Maison Blanche newest tenant
The first black President rode into Washington
With dreams like Martin Luther King
More mess to clean than by-gone slaves, ever had in deep south;
President Barack Obama must start from scratch, scratching his back
They wail when he takes vacation rest even though his backpack
Is filled with what must be done to put people back to work
Amid deficit, tornadoes, hurricanes and the downgrade
Education and plenty schools with dropouts with no stock and trade
A working vacation is all the luxury he has ever had.

My gawd, he is your elected President for blacks, whites,
And all the colors in between;
Let no class, gender biases, or creed divide
The democratic plank you hold so true
Acknowledge he got handed a heavy loaded "to do list"
Much more than others before
The world watches on and wonders at your lack of rapport:
Why the tea-party serves him rock cakes with rubbart
And slapping him down with their mischievous narratives
Failing to grasp that the President strives for initiatives
And compromise across the aisle on policies
Beneficial for growing their economy and jobs
For the rich and poor alike; while keeping Star Spangled
Relevant to international eyes;
The mess handed him needs Clorox and surgical knives;
With everyone willing to pay to Uncle Sam honest tithes...

Bin Laden at large hiding for a decade in a Packed enclave
That feeds this beast at the expense of the Stars and Spangled
The first black President vexed as hell without much fuss and cuss
Pledge on his entry to the White House that he would capture him
That man, the master mind of Ground Zero’s mayhem.
The throng not privy to the command to act, when he called on
His loyal and fearless Seals anon

President Barack Obama delivered on his pledge where others failed
In a manner that so well fitted his evil mind and six-foot limb;
Tearing apart limb by limb, for crimes against humanity;
They blasted his head off, in the dim
For God is good, in Him we trust His firm resolve,
Osama bin Laden loaded with lead a celebratory tragedy
Now in deed sleep in the Arabian Sea
To grow scales with his fish
Such sweet revenge all of US all along, did wish
On this tenth anniversary of Ground Zero
Heroes among the dead patiently waited for this;

Terror plants beware! The Spangled eyes will forever
Keep watch over your inhuman maneuver
And with all the Star Spangled might, will keep the sky true blue;
As we burry our enemies that do US harm in the vale
In full-scale; we shall prevail
So on this Remembrance day
Of September 11 we will never forget
To celebrate, the life of the dead and brave fighting guys
Reflected in Ground Towers, sky-scraping the sky
Having risen from their temporary sleep
The phoenix rises above the ashes; no more do we weep
Because it beams powerful light and might on beds of forget-me-nots

Ground Zero- Never!
Ground Towers Rebound with all its might
Blooming forget-me-nots splendidly bright;
Democracy gives US that rite.

© Paterika Hengreaves
September 7, 2011

--

Ode to Sir Grantley Herbert Adams

2011-09-04T10:57:00.000-07:00

(in Acrostic)

Single and endearing acts perfectly carried out;
Insatiable desire to transform conditions for the masses;
Recounting his political brilliance, herein, out, and all about.

Grey's Inn molded his mindset to lifting poor masses from stirring molasses;
Reshaped the landscape; equal opportunities for all Barbadians before they die;
Abolished strangled grip of mercantile elite and plantations' iron fists;
Never again on his watch would colonial masters eat all the pie;
Turned the rite for poor masses to rub elites' shoulders equally in voting booth;
Legacy of this great "Liberator" in singled hand political move;
Every Barbadian with land or not the right to vote at twenty-one;
Yes, he gave universal adult suffrage despite dangerous path for himself and family.

Hail the man our "Moses" and the "Father of the Nation" our grateful icon born;
Economic advancement Bajans enjoy the "Great Liberator" of the ninety-fifties;
Rebuilt and rearranged the plants; "Father of Democracy" whose seeds bloomed in the sixties;
Better can be done and will be done with tools he fashioned for the nation;
Everyone of thems' lips first sucked the honey dripping from the bees
Resistance was no deterrent for this brilliant and articulate Caribbean Leader and Lawyer;
Trinidad and Jamaica frienemies jealous of his shoes laced his sweet tea with fleas,

And aborted his goal, the first Prime Minister of the West Indies Federation;
Dedicated he was for all Barbadians and the Caribbean, Queen Elizabeth knighted him;
At age seventy-three we mourned our hero, and named Airport after him on isle's south rim;
Memories of the great son of the soil lives in our minds and hearts;
Statesman he was; his statue sits at Government Headquarters as testament.

Ode to Black Pudding and Souse

2011-09-02T02:53:00.000-07:00

(Irregular Ode in Pentameter)

Small chattel-house where she was born and raised
In Maycock's village, her ancestral home;
Bare-foot youth on Sunday evenings did walk
Rope leashed black-belly sheep and goats, to graze
Weeds and grass on dust roads, with out boardwalk;
Mindful of cane-fields that grow planters' cash;
As arrowed canes swayed before cropping bash;

Those cane-sucking youth watched Broomfield's sweet teeth
Skinned and strained, sweet crystals in crocus bags;
They lived just a stone-throw from grandma's house;
She sold villagers black pudding and souse;
In enamel plates without paper-bags.

Once each month early a Saturday morn,
The butcher came; slaughtered her homegrown boar,
To prepare for her unique Bajan fare;
Black pudding and souse she sold with great care;
Advents stance on this Bajan dish made clear;
Leviticus eleven be aware.

Black pudding and souse I have recipe;
A relic from days of by-gone slavery;
Handed down by grandmother Emily.
Legend says that colonial masters
Gifted to blacks; they owned in this country
Specific parts, carved from their butchered pig:
The head, feet, tail and the offal; Darwinly
They believed, slaves were full of infra dig
That matched, their "fine-china from calabash";
Look at pictures below and toss your mind:
Prime cuts of hog for themselves; they did stash;
Feasting on shoulder chops, loin chops,
Spare ribs, bacon and ham in posh housetops.

Back in the village folks are thinking now
How best to make delicious new cuisine
That blends various parts off their master’s sow;
Who among them would do what, when and how?
Maxine was given the pig’s head to clean;
She cut it in two parts and removed brain;
Paula cleaned the ears, tails and sow's trotters;
Tossing them in iron pot that squatters
Boiling in salt on dried peels from the cane
Cooking done; set aside for meat to cool;
Cooled meat cut in slices off bones in bowl
Of pickle made of salt water, limejuice,
Cucumber, few red peppers diced, not whole;
Now sits in larder garnished with parsley;
Souse now in pickle marinates coolly;
This dish of ingenious necessity
Waits, for boudin noir trail joints to roll in;
Clean logistics worked out for pudding skin;

Black pudding, English name for boudin noir
Pig's blood captured in bowl with vinegar
Poor pig hangs in the air, head down is silent;
Blood gushed from pig's head like opened hydrant;
On hell's ground pig wailed 'oink, oink you tyrant';

Not so, just doing the job says Nellie:
Block all clots, we must from sausage entry;
Use cheese-cloth to ward off transmigration,
And stir, stir away, the coagulation;
That bloody blood; don't want it thickening
Tanti now is cleaning the chitterling
Intestines, yanked from monogastric pig;
Cleaning filth, slime and fat she thinks big.
Faecal matter removed entirely;
Meg prepares the casings for black pudding.

It boggles the mind how she cleans the gut;
Water from stand pipe in a small mud hut;
Rounds of guts she cleans meticulously well;
No tips from Department of public health;
Just tips from wise old heads to her did tell:
Cut the guts in equal lengths with clippers;
Rubbing hard with the pads of your fingers
Like when you wash clothes, cut mucous with lime;
Plenty salt and spoon to remove the slime;
Now turn inside out with this cane-trash stick;
Now clean all over again and again;
Blow up guts like balloon so clean and clear
Plunge in salt water for hours remain.

For hours henceforth guts steep with salina;
While Marge grates sweet potatoes in bowl;
Adds thyme, sweet marjoram, Bajan sugar
With mixed shallots, and dash of clove powder;
Blends bloody ingredients make mixture
Loose consistency, casings will control;
Kay packs casings with mixture not tightly ;
Using funnel, fills casings not fully;

Just like grandma force-feeding her turkey;
Old-fashioned tool; but yet very sturdy;
Ties each casing's ends to make sausage roll;

Coils of sausages in bottom of pot
In boiling water, one hour to squat;
Until potatoes in natural casing
Are as firm to the touch, in the testing;
And are not busting their skins, and burning.

Little did these slaves know that their culinary arts
Would be a dish pleasing so many hearts;
With oinks, blood, sweat and tears, and ingenuity
Made from unwanted pig parts, this soul-dish
Where the rich, the middle class and poor folks
Eat, black pudding and souse with much relish;
A bold statement that cut off racial yokes;
Where those folks on tiny coral island,
Gushing waters of true democracy.
Food, a way to most heart in many ways;
Served on high days, and holidays,
Independence festivals, crop-over and,
Never at Easter, that would be gross.
Black pudding and souse still in great demand;
This soul-food, deep in culture and sucrose.

© Paterika Hengreaves
September 2011/Barbados

Cyber Sweethearts

2011-08-15T11:48:00.000-07:00

(Hendianne Sonnet in Iambic Pentameter)

Did I tell you, just how special you are!
The light that you emit lights my star,
Beaming the glow of love we are sharing,
Your fingers on my heart strings repairing.
Bill Gates has built for us this band new home,
For free-spirited souls like ours can roam.
Though the oceans are keeping us apart,
Your nights do give my days a real kick-start;
You way down under, and I way up yonder;
Such poles apart cannot this love falter.
Your e-mails give me many a chuckle,
And life is sweet in this cyber bubble.
So, as we both face the Christmas season,
The Star of David shines for this reason.

© Paterika Hengreaves

Walk Through Trees

2011-07-02T07:25:00.000-07:00

(with specks of the Tribrach ᵕ ᵕ ᵕ foot in Tetrameter Verses)

He and me among a group of trees walk;
He with his camera and with his backpack;
Up there, we in the trees not far from New York;
Finding solace after leaving Iraq.

Common thought to understand the language
Of the forest, and lives it does sustain;
In this, we must hold true to this marriage;
Sustainable goals must be the refrain.

Trees are us, and with them not, we are not
We are not wrapped, in their life saving tools;
Go plant those trees on every vacant lot;
Walk through trees and learn from nature's modules.

© Paterika Hengreaves
July 2, 2011/Maycocks, St Lucy, Barbados

Freak Storm Smash

2011-06-30T04:30:00.000-07:00

(with vibrant sparks of Molossum)

Last night heard bull-frogs whistling in the dark;
House top blown off, landed in Rockrose Park;
Winds pound glass panel like a steel-pan band;
Flash floods, pain and gore the scene in Bayland;

Strong winds broke doors, windows; hell on the loose;
All hearts grief for the death of old James Bruce;
Atlantic storms three months away, they say;
Global warming rides the world on its sleigh;

Storm with no name caused plane to land in tree;
Rain, wind, lightning soaked body wear with pee;
Last ad aired was Husbands solar power
Break, break, break, and thunder got much louder.

© Paterika Hengreaves
June 30, 2011/Maycocks, St Lucy, Barbados

Midsummer's Day Exquisiteness

2011-06-26T07:46:00.000-07:00

(An Ode in syllabic meter 54667789769 rhyming aabccdefggc)
Those two guys arrived safely;
In Sweden so gladly;
In Stockholm at noon in June;
After a four-day business stay,
On the island of Bermuda in May,
Giving zesty three-day promotional trade speeches,
And talked business to folks from other lands;
Then came the most important holiday of the year;
Midsummer's Eve, one of those de facto holidays,
For Swedes in so many ways;
Here comes Midsummer’s Day alive in full glitzy array.

Hail the glorious summer season;
Winter long in Sweden;
Midsummer’s Day the best of summer;
Nature strikes colorful blooms of pleasure;
The pristine summer steaming with real leisure;
First time they viewed beautiful double rainbow;
Taking many colourful photos of merry maypole dancers;
Midsummer’s Day is as vibrant as the Bajan Cropover;
Dancing to songs round maypole at Papplewick;
The crowds so merry and thick;
Wearing wild flower wreaths to Wendholm’s Fisk for dinner.

© Paterika Hengreaves
June 25, 2011/St James, Barbados)

Wiener Souse

2011-06-22T04:13:00.000-07:00

(in Limerick)

Atom and salacious Salina
Exchanging their souse for a wiener
Debating dominoes
Her tongue in juxtapose
Encroaching his head in subpoena

© Paterika Hengreaves
June 22, 2011/St James, Barbados

A Fathers' Day Ode

2011-06-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

(Homostrophic Ode rhyming aabccbdde)

Not in Brazil, down-under and Thailand
But, within US and across Bimshire land
Fathers' Day, is the third Sunday in June;
Its birthing bed in minds of Monongah;
Fathers and father-like we hold in awe;
Their helping hands build family fortunes;
Whether a Jew, a Muslin or Christian;
Long before the Watergate drowned Nixon,
He gave Fathers' Day its true holiday.

Fathers and Father-like figures alike
Kids need, dads who don't ever 'take a hike';
Would 'green-ear ' men make good dads at eighteen?
Great dads bring feathers to household pillars;
Great dads bring smiles to family dinners;
Are deadbeat fathers few, and in between?
Every single child needs a good father,
And wifely- mother who enjoys laughter;
Fathers everywhere, "Happy Fathers' Day".

© Paterika Hengreaves
June 16, 2011/St James, Barbados

The Whitsun Dance

2011-06-10T12:07:00.000-07:00

(in Iambic Tetrameter Villanelle)

Whit-Monday, all its names not here;
Doomsday rapture; again postpone;
Whit-Sunday, dove soars in the air.

War is here, there and everywhere;
Earth a-spinning with truth and lies;
Gaddafi acting out King Lear.

Gaddafi wears stained underwear;
Painful flames in Afghanistan;
Road blocks the Pentecostal cheer.

Birth of Christian Church we revere;
Wearing garments of sunshine white;
Speaking in tongues with Golda Meir.

Holy Spirit in US, that's clear;
Touched Apostles, with Pentecost;
Human's wits adrifting, worse nightmare.

Honoring God we feast with prayer
Wine drunk, from Holy Ghost' chalice;
Whitsun dancing shoes reappear;
Storms and minds of hate disappear.

© Paterika Hengreaves
St James, Barbados/June 10, 2011

Wife's Birthday I Forgot

2011-06-08T19:21:00.000-07:00

(Hendianne Sonnet in Iambic Hexameter, Rhyming abba abba abba aa)

May tornadoes, wars, doomsday, and EME weaponry;
Power lines and cables mangled by fierce twister;
Stranded my sincere words to you on transistor
Blocked for eight days, your birthday from my memory;
Now May turns to June, I wish it not repeated;
Birthday forgot; but remembered birthday, I forgot
Prolongs our celebrations my dear, that’s what;
Futurity speaking no reminder needed
‘Cause my love for you, these many years runs nonstop;
You are my Rox Anne yes you are, my gorgeous wife;
Love you yesterday, today, and for the rest of my life;
This love for you I’ll shout it loud from the rooftop;
Happy Birthday I wish you beyond a day or year;
May you have lots of birthdays by my side, my prayer.

© Paterika Hengreaves
June 8, 2011/St James, Barbados

Ode to a Swing Bridge Bulldozed

2011-05-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

(Bridge over rippled waters)

For donkey’s years Bajans did ride throughout
The length and breadth of country, the Leeward;
Vintage now! This bus was ugly indeed
With rails like a zoo-cage on every side,
It kept human cargo safely inside,
Canvas drapes rolled up to bring in the view,
Inside it commuters could not find loo.

Its snail-pace haste put passengers to sleep;
Thirty miles kept at bay the “arm of law”.
Into Lower Green, gear and brakes applied;
These “cool cats” got off with their heads held high
Up Broad Street to watch Chamberline fly by
Bubbling with pleasure were those gals and boys,
Laughing from ear to ear in city noise;

Now in the square, guys stood on the boardwalk;
Saw tourists round Nelson still on the slab
Looking down Broad Street at posh merchant stores
Heard not the pleas of hawkers shouting out,
Nuts, sugar cakes, comforts, hey! They did shout
Near the Bridge, they too, came to see it swing
And twirl itself to land on its west wing.

‘Twas an august event for country kids;
On parents’ lead excursions into town,
True pictures whizzed by from the northern drive:
Trees, fields and buildings along coastal sea
The marble dolphin spat for them to see;
As they walked on Chamberlain’s outstretched arms,
They viewed the marvellous deep with its charms.

They saw Fielding’s stevedore bridge quartet
Those guys bellowed the bridge lyrics out loud;
Hands on here, Victoria! Hands on here!
Lock all the bolts now and hold on real tight!
Now heave to the left then spin to the right;
Swing now Chamberlain, and swing to the west
Real wide on Duncan’s side, you must now rest.

Oh Chamberlain! You deserve to rest now
And view all sorts of cargo passing by
In this temporal groove, the Careenage
Of still waters ’neath arched extremities
With trade from Caricom communities;
As pleasure crafts sail with the cool sea breeze
For you give them shelter from angry seas.

To your north stand political towers,
The Cathedral and heroes in the Square,
Your frame preserved the tracks, stains and bruises
Caused by every thing flowing over you;
Some have mishandled you and raped you too;
Yet your NISE arms swung with pride and beauty;
Your rest deserved; you have done your duty.

Oh Bridge of fragile frame you have reached now
One hundred and thirty-three years this fall.
With Indians’ feathered quills they wrote ‘bout
The blood, the sweat and tears of by-gone slaves,
Your blows from hurricanes and killer waves,
Yet, your timbered heart did find common ground
With Wolferstone, and Chamberlain, profound!

With tears in our eyes, they bulldozed you down;
Took some of your parts to Heritage Park
Vintage now in maritime museum
Never more will you swing your arms again
But your glory and honour shall remain
With new technology you lift your frame
From dust you rise, thanks to a City Dame.

Bridgetown the mega town of this small isle,
Rejoices with your megabytes software;
Best wishes to you from us here and there
Welcome your new arms, as you lift them tall;
Never more shall we let you rot and fall,
For with Barrow close by, pleases all Dames;
Boost sales from tourists and the World Cup games.

©Paterika Hengreaves
(Birthplace: Maycock's, St. Lucy)

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When the word was out that the historic swing bridge of Barbados would be demolished to make way for a modern technology lift bridge, I saw this as an opportunity to write a landmark poem that chronicles its life and the emotions it evoked in me. A little background to the locale of this historic landmark Swing Bridge is in order I suppose. So here it goes.

Two bridges span the Careenage: one that used to swing open and closed when larger ships passed, and another with the Independence Arch standing tall. These bridges echo back to when colonists first settled the land and found a handmade Indian bridge spanning the river. Chamberlain Bridge (the old swing bridge) stretches from Trafalgar Square to the other bank; the Charles Duncan O’Neale Bridge spans the river to the city’s main bus terminal on Fairchild Street. The Careenage is actually an arm of the sea that stretches inland. Bajans named the “river” Constitution River. In past years, merchants used the Careenage’s calm water as a place to dock their ships and to load/unload merchandise. In years gone by, Bridgetown used to bustle with men and women who carried heavy bundles of bananas, boxes of mangoes and avocados, barrels of rum, etc.

Royal Wedding in Focus

2011-04-30T14:15:00.000-07:00

Click on title to read poem

Inspired by Prince William and Kate Middleton
Twenty-first Century Royal Wedding
Prose Poem for the Wedding of the Century

National Heroes Day in Barbados

2011-04-28T08:57:00.000-07:00

I'm in the process of compiling a Statue Gallery of the National Heroes of Barbados. Why this exercise? Well! Today is Heroes Day in Barbados and it is a national holiday in recognition of outstanding 'daughter and sons of the soil'.

Exhibit No.1 depicts the photos of the National Heroes of Barbados

1. Sir Grantley Adams
2. Sir Errol Walton Barrow
3. Sir Garfield Sobers

How about matching the numbers below with the the names of the other National Heroes.

4. ---------------------------
5. ---------------------------
6. ---------------------------
7. ---------------------------
8. ---------------------------
9. ---------------------------
10. ---------------------------

I have been scouting the island taking pictures of our National Heroes who have statues erected at prominent sites on the island. These I have found so far.

Heroes Day Video Poem

Twenty-first Century Royal Wedding

2011-04-25T07:53:00.000-07:00

(in Pantoum)

Part I

Hail! to the British Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second;
Hail! to the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton
A commoner, from the ancient town of Reading, but records mentioned:
This stylish belle 's infant school in Jordan is British citizen.

Hail! to the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton
Betrothed to Prince William; she wears his mum's engagement ring;
This stylish belle 's infant school in Jordan is British citizen;
The recycle-ring is a gorgeous thing on her finger, it does cling.

Betrothed to Prince William; she wears his mum's engagement ring;
She makes delicate and laudable steps in Princess Diana's shoes;
The recycle-ring is a gorgeous thing on her finger, it does cling,
But what will her bridal wear be? all media search for clues.

She makes delicate and laudable steps in Princess Diana's shoes;
Meanwhile we know that Prince Charles love the game called bowls;
But what will her bridal wear be? all media search for clues,
While Prince Harry expedition to the north pole unfolds.

Meanwhile we know that Prince Charles love the game called bowls;
His son, Prince William shares his Kate at the royal table,
While Prince Harry expedition to the north pole unfolds;
This royal wedding springs in full bloom to the world, on the tail of April.

His son, Prince William shares his Kate at the royal table,
The wedding of the century, is a blessing in disguise
This royal wedding springs in full bloom to the world, on the tail of April.
The euphoria for Princess Di comes as no surprise.

Part II

The wedding of the century, is a blessing in disguise;
Planting smiles anew on faces worldwide;
Euphoria for Princess Di, comes as no surprise;
Sprouting jobs from tanked economies, his wedding bells provide.

Planting smiles anew on faces worldwide;
Shifting media's obsession with gloom, doom and conspiracy, 24/seven;
Pulling jobs out of tanked economies, his wedding bells provide;
Clearing minds, around the globe, away from Armageddon.

Shifting media's obsession with gloom, doom and conspiracy, 24/seven;
All eyes on Prince William and his wedding cake do rest;
Clearing minds around the globe, away from Armageddon;
Glee blankets the world from north, south, east and the west.

All eyes on Prince William and his wedding cake do rest;
Bringing shouts of joy from sea of people on streets flow;
Glee blankets the world from north, south, east and west;
Through tearing rain of joyful hearts Kate shows her Dianamatic glow.

Bringing shouts of joy from sea of people on streets flow;
Unpretentiously Kate and William bring worldwide applause
Through tearing rain of joyful hearts Kate shows her Dianamatic glow;
As paparazzi pledge not to display their paws and claws.

Unpretentiously Kate and William bring worldwide applause;
April showers threaten bride and groom on their special day,
As paparazzi pledge not to display their paws and claws;
Rain on wedding day is great karma, the ancestors truly did say.

Part III

April showers threaten bride and groom on their special day,
The blessed rain will wash away mishaps, the muck and clutter ;
Rain on wedding day is great karma, the ancestors truly did say.
April flowers at their feet, two hearts meet with love he comforts her.

The blessed rain will wash away mishaps, the muck and clutter;
Mixing traditional with the modern with pomp and pageantry,
April flowers at their feet, two hearts meet he comforts her;
Royal wedding fans camp on London streets with gleeful rhapsody.

Mixing the modern and traditional with pomp and pageantry,
From news reports Bajans have been fed
Royal wedding, fans camp on London streets with gleeful rhapsody;
Four thousand miles and more, at four a.m. out of bed I must watch them wed.

From news reports Bajans have been fed
Prince William will not, be wearing a gold wedding ring;
Four thousand miles and more, at four a.m. out of bed I must watch them wed;
Taking care of mines, he ditched the gold wedding ring, mother earth thanks future king.

Prince William will not, be wearing a gold wedding ring;
The Prince of Wales sheared sheep on the 'Long White Cloud' and likes organic food;
Taking care of mines, he ditched the gold wedding ring, mother earth thanks future king;
Environmental friendly toward everything that's the princely attitude.

The Prince of Wales sheared sheep on the 'Long White Cloud' and likes organic food;
Throngs lined streets on wedding-eve bejeweled, by Prince William's handshake;
Environmental friendly toward everything that's the princely attitude,
In Buckingham Palace the wedding cake is baked for Prince William, and Kate.

Part IV

Throngs lined streets, on wedding-eve bejeweled, by Prince William's handshake;
The wedding day Bajans have been waiting for is here; I'm dressed in my night wear;
In Buckingham Palace the wedding cake is baked for Prince William and Kate;
Off to the Royal wedding I go wearing Piers' and Cooper's headgear.

The wedding day Bajans have been waiting for is here; I'm dressed in my night wear;
Bajan culture and politics skirt in every way with British DNA;
Off to the Royal wedding I go wearing Piers' and Cooper's head-gear;
Independent though we be; monarchy in our hearts will ever stay.

Bajan culture and politics skirt in every way with British DNA;
Here, in Bimshire the monarchy's pretty bows and ribbons are free of cost;
Independent though we be the British monarchy in our hearts will ever stay,
Lending prestige to political governance the Governor General in permafrost.

Here, in Bimshire the monarchy's pretty bows and ribbons are free of cost;
Fulfilling such emotional needs through leaves of time making Bajans happy,
And lending prestige to political governance, the Governor General in permafrost,
Dressed for royal nuptials, Bajan Prime minister too in Westminster Abbey.

Fulfilling such emotional needs through leaves of time making Bajans happy
The invitation, to the wedding of Prince William and Kate; guess whose attending!
Dressed for the royal nuptials, Bajan Prime minister in Westminster Abbey
In London, where the wedding takes place in a Gothic setting.

The invitation to the wedding of Prince William and Kate; guess whose attending!
Royalty, Politico, Bolton and Best of Anglesey, Priests, celebrities including the Guy Ritchie
In London, where the wedding takes place in a Gothic setting,
And twenty-five million people around the globe in chairs, watching wedding on TV.

Part V

Royalty, Politico, Bolton and Best of Anglesey, Priests, celebrities including the Guy Ritchie
In Westminster Abbey, to witness Prince William wed Kate in a glittering ceremony,
And twenty-five million people around the globe in chairs, watching wedding on TV,
As voices rise to the singing of popular Welsh hymns and "God Save the Queen" ceremoniously.

In Westminster Abbey, to witness Prince William wed Kate in glittering ceremony;
His best man, Prince Harry found sister he always wanted in Kate;
As voices rise to the singing of popular Welsh hymns and "God Save the Queen" ceremoniously;
The sons of Princess Diana entered Abbey to joyous shouts, itrees shiver and shake.

His best man, Prince Harry found sister he always wanted in Kate;
Prince William and Prince Harry smiled and waved to delighted spectators
The sons of Princess Diana entered Abbey to joyous shouts, trees shiver and shake
On streets, of London chants of "we want Will, we want Will" from lips of teenagers.

Prince William and Prince Harry smiled and waved to delighted spectators
As they set off from Clarence House, their London home in a chauffeured Bentley
On streets of London, chants of "we want Will, we want Will" from lips of teenagers
Waving flags, anything, all sort of things, the dense crowds in streets immensely;

As they set off from Clarence House, their London home in a chauffeured Bentley
The groom and best man resplendent in military tunics arrived at Westminster Abbey;
Waving flags, anything, all sort of things, the dense crowds in streets immensely;
Prince William classically dressed to the bone, the handsome future king relaxed and happy.

The groom and best man resplendent in military tunics arrived at Westminster Abbey;
Pleasantly amused, those alien hats did display their youthful wearers' capers;
Prince William classically dressed to the bone, the handsome future king relaxed and happy;
Prince Charles, and radiant glow of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall marinated all royal flavours.

Part VI

Pleasantly amused, those alien hats did display their youthful wearers' capers;
Invited guests seated in Abbey now, but for US, President and First Lady yet to arrive;
Prince Charles, and radiant glow of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall marinated all royal flavours
In historic Abbey, consecrated December twenty-eight, ten hundred and sixty-five.

Invited guests seated in Abbey now, but for US, President and First Lady yet to arrive;
The forty-fourth President not there, baggers demand his long birth be certified by Crowe.
In historic Abbey, consecrated December twenty-eight, ten hundred and sixty-five;
My mind row and wade, the trump card might have kept President from wedding glow.

The forty-fourth President not there, baggers demand his long birth be certified by Crowe
Bad gas, constipation in gym, President on the ninth hole left to council with brave army;
My mind row and wade, the trump card might have kept President from wedding glow:
Sadden by gulf tornadoes, two wars, Middle East brawls, Bin Laden and Japs' tsunami.

Bad gas, constipation in gym, President on the ninth hole left to council with brave army;
Cooper's spraying set keeps them honest; denounces twisting words with covert theme;
Sadden by gulf tornadoes, two wars, Middle East brawls, Bin Laden and Japs' tsunami,
Toxic venom clogging and polluting waters billowing far; far beyond the Gulf stream.

Cooper's spraying set keeps them honest; denounces twisting words with covert theme;
Queen left Buckingham Palace in Bentley State Limousine, not in a horse drawn carriage;
Toxic venom clogging and polluting waters billowing far; far beyond the Gulf stream
The "ugly cow" remark, couldn't dampen Prince William and Kate on their day of marriage.

Queen left Buckingham Palace in Bentley State Limousine, not in a horse drawn carriage;
Bentley morphed parts of limousine so Queen Elizabeth II escapes claustrophobic Palace life;
The "ugly cow" remark, couldn't dampen Prince William and Kate on their day of marriage
When multitudes watched, Prince William in the sight of God took Catherine to be his wife.

Part VII

Bentley morphed parts of limousine so Queen Elizabeth II escapes claustrophobic life;
Clad in Angela Kelly pale yellow dress and hat, royal wedding fashion trends blending
When multitudes watched Prince Williams, in sight of God took Catherine to be his wife;
Queen Mary's true lovers knot brooch adorned this dress tradition and modern styles trending.

Clad in Angela Kelly pale yellow dress and hat, royal wedding fashion trends blending;
Majestic clout displayed Queen and Prince Philip abandoned limousine for carriage procession;
Queen Mary's true lovers knot brooch adorned this dress tradition and modern styles trending;
This brooch knots, loops and ties its ropes to another; emblematic of love and affection.

Majestic clout displayed Queen and Prince Philip abandoned limousine for carriage procession;
In Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen, Philippa, sexiest maid of honor paparazzi ever seen
This brooch knots, loops and ties its ropes to another; emblematic of love and affection;
Bride maids gold with wild silk head to Lily of the Valley feet in Swarovski buckles sheen.

In Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen, Philippa, sexiest maid of honor paparazzi ever seen;
Guarding bride maids those pages clad themselves in uniforms with Irish Guard insignia;
Bride maids gold with wild silk head to Lily of the Valley feet in Swarovski buckles sheen;
Red tunics, gold and crimson sashes and tassels, Irish Shamrock swayed free above the tibia.

Guarding bride maids those pages clad themselves in uniforms with Irish Guard insignia;
With smiles that lit up TV screens around the globe, Kate Middleton swept down the aisle;
Red tunics, gold and crimson sashes and tassels, Irish Shamrock swayed free above the tibia;
This union of Prince William and Kate, hope upon hope will revitalize the monarchy's lifestyle.

With smiles that lit up TV screens around the globe, Kate Middleton swept down the aisle;
Prince Charles kisses the hand of Queen Elizabeth II his mother
This union of Prince William and Kate, hope upon hope will revitalize the monarchy's lifestyle;

He shows deep affection for his mother, who attended his wedding to Camilla, his lover.

Part VIII

Prince Charles kisses the hand of Queen Elizabeth II his mother;
Not in April 2005 when he married Duchess of Cornwall in civil wedding at Windsor Guildhall;
He shows deep affection for his mother, who attended his wedding to Camilla, his lover;
Only at wedding service of blessing Queen was, skipped civil ceremony, crowd was too small.

Not in April 2005 when he married Duchess of Cornwall in civil wedding at Windsor Guildhall;
John public not enthralled in so many ways by Prince of Wales' second wedding ran by BBC;
Perfect father, raised two adorable sons, the Prince of Wales again wins hearts of all;
He'll make an awesome king mum says: son you shall be king for me to see how you be.

John public not enthralled in so many ways by Prince of Wales' second wedding ran by BBC;
Royal wedding over at Westminster Abbey; joy filled priest made cartwheels down aisle;
He'll make an awesome king mum says: son you shall be king for me to see how you be;
He watched elder son, Prince William changed his commoner wife into royalty worthwhile.

Royal wedding over at Westminster Abbey; joy filled priest made cartwheels down the aisle;
Two billion folks saw Prince William placed gold band on Kate, it seem like it will not fit;
He watched elder son, Prince William changed his commoner wife into royalty worthwhile;
Oh so classy! his cool maneuver on new gold band on finger fit, her royal state is now legit.

Two billion folks saw Prince William placed gold band on Kate, it seem like it will not fit;
Wedding band break down, Kate shifts engagement ring, makes way for 18 carat too
Oh so classy! his cool maneuver on new gold band on finger fit, her royal state is now legit.
Wedding of the Century over; wedding band, and engagement ring have juicy tales to chew

Wedding band break down, Kate shifts engagement ring, makes way for 18 carat too
Glad her gift of Welsh gold for his commoner wife on finger; Queen wears royalty smile;
Wedding of the Century over; wedding band, and engagement ring have juicy tales to chew;
In mini battle of the wedding band, subtle maneuvering tactics swiftly caught the eye.

Part IX

Glad her gift of Welsh gold for his commoner wife on finger; Queen wears royalty smile;
This gorgeous wedding band made from Welsh rarest of gold;
In mini battle of the wedding band, subtle maneuvering tactics swiftly caught the eye;
Emblematic of tight control! Her Royal Highness welcomes commoner to her household.

This gorgeous wedding band made from Welsh rarest of gold
Snuggles finger William and Catherine stood before Archbishop of Canterbury repeated vows;
Emblematic of tight control! Her Royal Highness welcomes commoner to her household;
Dressed in ivory and white satin gazar of Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen fashion house.

Snuggles finger, William and Catherine stood before Archbishop of Canterbury repeated vows;
Catherine Middleton the commoner scaled steep steps; now sits in second row on British throne
Dressed, in ivory and white satin gazar of Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen fashion house;
A touch of Queen Elizabeth's wand, rebrand her Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge is now known.

Catherine Middleton the commoner scaled steep steps; now sits in second row on British throne,
The wife of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn and Baron Carrickfergus
A touch of Queen Elizabeth's wand, rebrand her Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge is now known;
Queen adds pertness, terseness and firmness in dukedom, earldom and barony for her purpose.

The wife of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn and the Baron of Carrickfergus;
Pippa, her sister's beauty lies within her curvaceous derriere sustained by the regimen of Pilates;
Queen adds pertness, terseness and firmness in dukedom, earldom and barony for her purpose:
There is the rebirth of monarchy, through blending of classicism with modernism and ecospecies.

Pippa, her sister's beauty lies within her curvaceous derriere sustained by the regimen of Pilates;
Maid of honour duties behind her, what will Pippa's celebrity derriere on facebook do for her now?
There is the rebirth of monarchy, through blending of classicism with modernism and ecospecies;
Will Pippa go the highroad since calm winds blow the boughs on the House of Windsor somehow?

Part X

Maid of honour duties behind her, what will Pippa's celebrity derriere on face book do for her now?
Prince William and his new bride Kate, Duchess of Cambridge left Abbey after their marriage
Will Pippa go the highroad since calm winds blow the boughs on the House of Windsor somehow?
Sandwiched between guests at Abbey, the newly weds walked down the aisle to waiting carriage.

Prince William and his new bride Kate, Duchess of Cambridge left Abbey after their marriage;
He bows and his wife curtsies in front Queen Elizabeth the Second as they left Westminster
Sandwiched between guests at Abbey, the newly weds walked down the aisle to waiting carriage,
Having walked passed the tomb of the Unknown Warrior, laid there during November's winter.

He bows and his wife curtsies in front Queen Elizabeth the Second as they left Westminster;
No kiss at the Abbey Altar during the Royal wedding, but she vowed to love and comfort him;
Having walked passed tomb of the Unknown Warrior, long laid there during November's winter;
Outside Abbey now, confetti cannons rained down on newly weds, crowds full of vigour and vim.

No kiss at the Abbey Altar during the Royal wedding, but she vowed to love and comfort him;
Seated in a 1902 State Landau carriage through a Horse guards parade to Buckingham Palace
Outside Abbey now, confetti cannons rained down on newly weds, crowds full of vigour and vim.
The Duchess dressed in sensational, regal and stunning satin gown with long-sleeved ivory lace.

Seated in a 1902 State Landau carriage through a Horse guards parade to Buckingham Palace
The fairytale horse-drawn carriage, with happily married couple waving to cheers in streets;
The Duchess dressed in sensational, regal and stunning satin gown with long-sleeved ivory lace;
For the beautiful bride and charming groom, best wishes worldwide kept pouring out from tweets.

The fairytale horse-drawn carriage, with happily married couple waving to cheers in streets;
At Buckingham Palace, bride and groom cut eight-tiered wedding cake at exclusive reception
For the beautiful bride and charming groom, best wishes worldwide kept pouring out from tweets
Outside Buckingham Palace thousands have gathered; its balcony draws worldwide attention.

Part XI

At Buckingham Palace, bride and groom cut eight-tiered wedding cake at exclusive reception;
The newly weds appeared on famous balcony and kissed in a way that was beyond ceremonial;
Outside Buckingham Palace thousands had gathered; its balcony draws worldwide attention;
The crowd roared with excitement as newly weds kissed, kisses so passionate, and so emotional.

The newly weds appeared on famous balcony and kissed in a way that was beyond ceremonial;
In Aston Martin Seychelles Blue DB6 Volante, they sealed balcony kisses on wheels that spun;
The crowd roared with excitement as newly weds kissed, kisses so passionate, and so emotional;
Ridding high on their bioethanol horse gulping a gallon, on grape wine, eight miles it did run.

In Aston Martin Seychelles Blue DB6 Volante, they sealed balcony kisses on wheels that spun
In 1969 this car, gift to his dad on his twenty-first birthday, from his mother, the British Queen;
Ridding high on their bioethanol horse gulping a gallon, on grape wine, eight miles it did run;
Festooned with festive balloons; ribbons arrowed L-plates : Learners in Love seen on the green;

In 1969 this car, gift to his dad on his twenty-first birthday, from his mother, the British Queen;
Newly weds left palace after buffet wedding reception for Clarence House; William at the wheel;
Festooned with festive balloons; ribbons arrowed L-plates: Learners in Love seen on the green;
His buds of love bloomed in April flowers on her from head to toes; love they could not conceal.

Newly weds left palace after buffet wedding reception for Clarence House; William at the wheel;
'Just Wed' stuck on the rear of Volante LOL, caught the eyes of the crowd; exuberance blazing;
His buds of love bloomed in April flowers on her from head to toes; love they could not conceal
Queen climbing steps to her palace sees a sea of people rejoicing, soliloquised, "its amazing!"

'Just Wed' stuck on the rear of Volante LOL, caught the eyes of the crowd; exuberance blazing;
Flying over the Aston Martin were RAF colleagues of the Prince in Sea King Helicopter;
Queen climbing steps to her palace sees a sea of people rejoicing, soliloquised, "its amazing!"
Waiting to see if the aerospace manoeuvre hints, that their honeymoon could be in Gloucester.

Part XII

Flying over the Aston Martin were RAF colleagues of the Prince in Sea King Helicopter;
At Clarence House bride changes wedding dress; transitioning from commoner to royal wife;
Waiting to see if the aerospace manoeuvre hints that their honeymoon could be in Gloucester.
Back at Palace for second reception hosted by Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall, for life.

At Clarence House, bride changes wedding dress; transitioning from commoner to royal wife;
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge wears strapless evening gown with a chic, fringed white shrug
Back at Palace for second reception, hosted by Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall, for life.
This royal wedding with worldwide approval shows that British Monarchy is no royal humbug.

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge wears strapless evening gown with a chic, fringed white shrug;
Bride shifted classic hairstyle at Abbey wedding; now dramatic hair waves in front frame her face;
This royal wedding with worldwide approval shows British Monarchy is no royal humbug;
The Instrument of Consent and William's James Bond moment skyrocketed monarchy's fan-base.

Bride shifted classic hairstyle at Abbey wedding; now dramatic hair waves in front, frame her face;
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall wears light blue hand embroidered floor-long Anna Valentine dress;
The Instrument of Consent and William's James Bond moment skyrocketed monarchy's fan-base.
Both Duchesses were dressed at their royal best; no ribbons and bows or pernickey nonsense.

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall wears light blue hand embroidered floor-long Anna Valentine dress;
At wedding reception for 'Just Wed', guests sat at circular tables with white flowers and candles;
Both Duchesses were dressed at their royal best; no ribbons and bows or pernickety nonsense;
Party tables named after places dear to newly weds; they drink and toast with vetted multinationals.

At wedding reception for 'Just Wed', guests sat at circular tables with white flowers and candles;
Royal honeymoon takes spotlight; not Gloucester so where will they go, guessing game has begun;
Party tables named after places dear to newly weds, they drink and toast with vetted multinationals;
Duchess of Cornwall and heir to throne recaptures the hearts of all of us, hosted this party for his son.

(Please wait for the continuation)

© Paterika Hengreaves
April 25, 2011/St James, Barbados

Prose Poem for the Wedding of the Century

2011-03-27T12:54:00.000-07:00

This Royal Wedding emboldens the Monarchy, which shall endure for evermore. Fate says so. Prince William has the will carved in his name and DNA. The stars and twinkle of the goddess Britannia, the one and only one, Princess Diana. Leaves an enduring halo on Prince William's forehead, and his crown. The Monarchy is alive and well; monarchy haters' torches have burnt out, no oil or gas, they just self-destruct. Anarchy finds no feathered bed in democracy. This Royal Wedding of the 21st Century is a blessing in disguise in all important ways. Behold! It springs young sprouts in a world where autumn leaves blow toxic air all about. Wedding springs young sprouts with crowning optimism sustaining smiles here, there and everywhere about; reeling from disasters natural and manmade and the media in your face 24/7 feeding Halloween stories day in day out; their devastating images of earthquakes worldwide, tsunamis, nuclear disasters, greed of liars everywhere and tyrants wantonly slaughtering their people whose only desire is for freedom and better way of life; and if that is not enough, a global recession, mountains of debt at both the micro and macro levels adding insult to injury with catastrophic proportion. What the whole world needs right now are positive images and that's what the Royal Wedding of the Century is all about and a Prince with wholesome genes growing his queen from a bridal trough. Prince William, son of the dearly beloved Princess Diana in his wisdom realized that his marrying now, not later down the road, could be, the ace, to drive any economy back to life and put the doldrums in a lock down place; bringing joy and smiles once more on a world of faces warped by sackcloth and ashes, for crying out loud. By golly, Prince William was right, people are happy and smiling worldwide. The euphoria for Princess Diana, the most beautiful, loving and down-to-earth member of the British Royal tree is back through Prince William her first son. This Royal wedding has brought back not only smiles on faces and media rejoices with beautiful images of pomp and pageantry 24/7 and Princess Diana is back in town, the crowd spell bound. Princess Diana speaks to the world through her most beloved and adorable sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. Off to the Royal Wedding we all must go to Westminster Abbey on TV. I can't wait to cozy up to my TV and watch the pomp and pageantry the hallmark of the Brits where an authentic British Monarchy rules the waves of Parliamentary democracy, and I make no apology for saying that. Long live the British Monarchy, God bless the Queen and all her household. Congratulations to Prince William and Kate Middleton on this their Wedding Day and I wish them a happy and long married life. Wait I must for the next big celebration, in the very near future, the coronation of Princess Diana's son, Prince William. No offense the Her Royal Highness, Queen Elizabeth II, but Prince William has the characteristics to dress the British Monarchy in "brand new clothes" in this 21st Century and hold on tightly the reins of his domestic happiness. A modern King, active duty in military, tweeting face book pages, the King of England and the Commonwealth. King George VI did just that supposedly at a time when threads in the British Monarchy began to fray, humbly speaking my democratic opinion. A new King of England and the Commonwealth sounds good to me ears.

© Paterika Hengreaves
April 25, 2011/St James, Barbados

The Invader

2011-03-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

(Dactylic Hexameter in Qualitative Meter)

Soon as the girl in her night gown closed door, climbed on the bedspread;
Clinging to window a bug in a web cage; spider on soft lace;
Looking from skyline, tall poles stuck deep, lighting the homestead,
Hot air blowing in! spider in bedroom, crawling in Jane's space.

Swift as a hare from the hole, Jane made mad dash from the bedroom;
Grabbed on the doorknob, wrestling with dead bolt, breaking the hinged door;
Dashed for the flit-can, battling the web squid, sprays with a vroom-vroom;
Falling from cobweb, eight feet drop dead, sprawling on pine floor

Dustpan, long broom, water in blue pail, mop in her hand, Jean
Holds on to high hope; big thoughts: end wars; feast on the peace pie;
Spraying and killing the heart and the body and spirit of earth's green;
Stop the abuse, on the earth's face, wink, wink, powers with false eye.

© Paterika Hengreaves
Maycocks, Barbados/March 1, 2011

Spider in the Web

2011-02-21T10:07:00.000-08:00

(in Dactylic Hexameter)

Rousing the girl, in her sleep, in the night, from the fear of the bed tick;
Large bug clings to the glass on the window and drapery weaves net
Spacing the walk large spider in web with its legs in an orbital cassette;
Spans as it probes, Jane thinks; weird thoughts feed brain, and she grabs stick.

Plans hatched; laced with a spite for the eight legs treading the pyramid;
Erratic 'pain in the neck' and its smut cells packed in a cartoon;
Weaving from rafters in house on the hilltop; spinning its cocoon;
Falls from the swing on to bed spread; spreading its canopied meshed grid.

Bag it in, lock with a bolt and a pin in the code in a safe home
Following games on the web, with the blogs, and the clutter on gateways;
Following the rules, and the droid blends; mixing to help with the stargaze;
Working its feet with the rules of the game on a spaghetti skinned chrome.

Scuttles, and slides on a thin line sky high; lacing the wide web;
Sound of the bell when keys stick, lock screen crashing the payroll,
Eight of its eyes in the light to the right, and the left of the console;
Replacing its lost legs; new ones growing from cells in the world web.

Daddy recycles its long legs; empties its trash in the background;
Fearful of spider in bonzi, and roping the ground with its stretched neck,
Searching in cells for the names in the blog list, scouting with hi-teck;
Pollutes the air as it flows to the face in a twittering rebound.

Sadly, I think of the work of the web cam; standing in spotlight,
Shows in the world wide web, fake dates on their tags, with a cute name;
Spinning its eight great webbed feet Bill Gates shows them his acclaim,
Spreading the wealth, as it were, with the poor folks brazen for the fight.

© Paterika Hengreaves
February 21, 2011/Maycocks, Barbados

Grievous Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T12:42:00.000-08:00

(a pseudo-elegiac couplet)
see author's comments at poetrydish

Black on this day as she thinks of the dew on a face of the maimed frame;
Her joy with glow of dreams on hanging chad;
Stars in the dark in a sky with a harp with unstrung strings' endgame,
And roses lost their scent with verse on pad.

Words in the way of regrets in a dreamy abyss of a sad soul;
A love in stiffness clings on dark lilac;
Hanging icicles on aspens and pines for a love to unfold flagpole;
Her wish this day becomes elegiac.

© Paterika Hengreaves
February 14, 2011/Barbados

Happy February 14

2011-02-11T06:17:00.000-08:00

Click on each link to read poems for this Special Day.

Click this link to read the Widow's Valentine

Poems on Egypt in Various Forms

2011-01-30T08:58:00.000-08:00

Click on each link to read each poem

Heroic Couplets
Triolet
Pantoum
Villanelle

Egypt's Intifada

2011-01-29T17:41:00.000-08:00

(in Heroic Couplets)

A tsunami of human proportion
Ends backpacking from Egypt to Jordan;

The olive trees spill their fruits on the streets,
And caused politicians to quit their seats.

On the tombs of the Pharaohs much wailing,
Because they have been barred from e-mailing.

An immense volcano has erupted;
Peace of a nation so vastly ruptured.

Hosni Mubarak surfs in Waterloo;
Obama's West Wing ponders what to do.

The water is deadly cold on all fronts;
Egyptians strike back at Mubarak's stunts;

Now the eighty-two year old President,
Hosni Mubarak, is their detriment.

Years of bottled anger sadly unleashed;
Genie in bottle looks for a new niche.

Dinosaur please go with your monarchy,
Jobs and ladders needed, not poverty.

The virus of the Jasmine has attacked;
Mubarak measures ways to save his back.

Meanwhile cutthroats, thieves and liars are out,
Police vexed as hell, since they lost their clout.

World watches and waits to see what comes next,
Arabs revolting becomes hypertext.

For years the world thought Egypt was peaceful;
Now Pharaoh must listen to his people.

Move fast to kneel and bake the people's loaves;
Guests are fleeing by the thousands in droves.

Stop the hemorrhaging of your people now;
From US comes building blocks of know how.

Deliver on democracy's promise;
Folks don't care for your bloody synopsis!

Bring out paper plates without the pat-down;
Let them say who should wear Pharaoh's last crown.

President Mubarak! you must man-up;
Stubborn ways, and rigid mind, please give-up.

Democracy asleep, painfully long,
"Change is coming", El Baradei tells throng;

© Paterika Hengreaves
January 30, 2011/8:29 PM

Barbados

Rambling Rose

2011-01-28T05:30:00.000-08:00

(in Blank Verse)

Looking through the prism of many thoughts;
In some thing or some other the whole world,
Thinks the clamacherry is a cherry.

Talking at, and not to folks, they converse;
Civil tongue clipped on a long hiatus;
Conceptual faux pas striking up heat.

Trimming the facts we bake upside down cakes;
Web extravaganza, spiders have brains;
People walk on fingers not on their feet.

The truth not in the taste, but in the eyes;
Imagery clouds the imagination,
Pouring rain drops, to seed those many thoughts.

Stop! Think now, about the clamacherry;
It is a cherry, but in name only;
The truth is in taste, and not its shape.

From clamacherry wood the poor make bats;
Stick mango shoes with clamacherry glue
The rich smooth those poor bats with sandpaper.

The economy now in a deep tank;
Leaking at all corners, top and bottom;
Bright brains fix tank with clamacherry glue.

Frankly, the future is rosy in dreams;
But if we dear not to dream, then what next?
Our potential we would never know.

© Paterika Hengreaves
January 28, 2011/9.05 AM
Barbados

January 25 Movement

2011-01-27T15:27:00.000-08:00

(in Triolet)

President Hosni Mubarak step down;
For thirty years, your promise not fulfilled;
We don't want your speeches and run-down crown;
President Hosni Mubarak, step down ",
Were pleas from Egyptians, in Cairo town
In Tahrir, strong feelings they distilled;
President Hosni Mubarak, step down,
For thirty years, your promise not fulfilled.

The crowd from all walks of life sang same tune;
They vowed to topple his cruel regime,
And keep Tutankhamun rapped in cocoon;
The crowd from all walks of life sang same tune;
Rage filled streets; Mubarak was not immune,
His iron armour cracked on every seam;
The crowd from all walks of life sang same tune;
They vowed to topple his cruel regime.

For eighteen days anger and distrust rained;
Mubarak bowed not to home-grown pressure;
Feed them rock-cakes, with no honey ingrained;
For eighteen days anger and distrust rained;
The wishes of his flock he shows distain;
January movement birth displeasure;
For eighteen days anger and distrust rained;
Mubarak bowed not to home-grown pressure.

Egyptians stormed into Square without fear;
From dawn to dusk his speech was an air-show;
I will not step down, go home, leave the Square;
Egyptians stormed into Square without fear;
His army stood ground; would not interfere;
Defiant was he, this modern Pharaoh;
Egyptians stormed into Square without fear;
From dawn to dusk his speech was an air-show.

© Paterika Hengreaves
February 13, 2011/Barbados

Egoless Poetry from Source Text

2011-01-24T07:04:00.000-08:00

Power-wash them out
(in Jackson Mac Low's style of Diastic Read ing Through Text Selection Procedure)

Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi's for downfall have government
we have rest night-time Tunisian flag
where the former old regime
Tunis with prime to new-found freedoms after world's has inspired Rached Ghannouchi
the government which the previous former
of out dates prime minister to law have their assets
were have ouster Rached Ghannouchi
the their president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
from of Tunisian UGTT

Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi's for downfall have government
we have rest night-time Tunisian flag
where the former old regime
Tunis with prime to new-found freedoms after world's has inspired Rached Ghannouchi
the government which the previous former
of out dates prime minister to law have their assets
were have ouster Rached Ghannouchi
the their president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
from of Tunisian UGTT
© Paterika Hengreaves
January 23, 2011/Barbados
-------------------------

Power-wash them out
(in Jackson Mac Low's style of Acrostic Reading Through Text Selection Procedure)

PM to quit
outside Tunisian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi's office on Sunday
was low
estimated the number of protesters at around 3,000 people
resigned and fled to Saudi Arabia
we have come
an elderly man draped in a Tunisian flag
samit
held up during the rally read:

they stole our money, they won't steal our revolution
have arrested 33 members of Ben Ali's family
emergency that remains in place, along with a night-time curfew
many Tunisians are already enjoying their new-found democratic freedoms

other parts of the region
uprising against president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
they broke through security cordons to reach the doors

© Paterika Hengreaves
January 23, 2011/Barbados
----------------------------------------

SOURCE TEXT
TUNIS — Thousands of anti-government protesters rallied outside Tunisian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi's offices on Sunday, calling for him to quit after the downfall of the north African state's 23-year regime.
"The people have come to bring down the government," around 5,000 protesters chanted as they brandished pictures of some of the dozens of people killed by security forces during the uprising against president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
They broke through security cordons to reach the doors of the building.
The new transitional government, put in place following Ben Ali's ouster on January 14, has unveiled unprecedented freedoms but is still led by Ghannouchi. Other old regime figures have also held on to key posts.
"We have come to bring down the rest of the dictatorship," said Mohammed Layani, an elderly man draped in a Tunisian flag, who arrived with hundreds of others from the region in central Tunisia where the uprising began.
The protest was supported by the General Union of Tunisian Workers, known under its French acronym as UGTT, which played a key role in anti-Ben Ali protests and has refused to recognise the fledgling government.
The state news agency, meanwhile, said security forces had detained two more figures linked to the old regime: Senate head Abdallah Kallel, who was a former interior minister, and Abdel Aziz Ben Dhia, a key adviser to Ben Ali and key ideologue of the old regime.
They are being held under house arrest, the report said.
On Saturday, thousands took part in peaceful anti-government demonstration in Tunis and were joined by hundreds of police officers, some of whom briefly blocked a car carrying the country's interim president Foued Mebazaa.
Public assemblies of more than three people are officially banned under a state of emergency that remains in place, along with a night-time curfew.
The curfew has been eased and schools and universities, which have been shut since January 10, are expected to begin re-opening this week.
Ghannouchi has been prime minister in Tunisia since 1999 and has promised to quit politics after the north African state's first democratic elections since independence from France in 1956.
Mebazaa has promised a "total break" with Ben Ali's 23-year rule and the government has announced that political prisoners will be released, media censorship lifted and all political parties legalised.
Many Tunisians are already enjoying their new-found freedoms after the first popular revolt in the Arab world's recent history, which has inspired dissidents to protest in many other parts of the region.
"Free at last!" read a sign spray-painted on the central Avenue Bourguiba.
Regional observers are watching to see how far the ripples from Tunisia's "jasmine revolution" spread.
There have already been numerous cases of self-immolation in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Mauritania like the one that set off the Tunisian protests.
Meanwhile the banned Islamist movement Ennahdha has said it intends to register as an official political party and take part in elections.
Its exiled leader Rached Ghannouchi, who lives in London, was quoted by German weekly Der Spiegel on Saturday saying he would return to his homeland "very soon".
The government on Saturday also lifted restrictions on the import of foreign literature and , which were tightly controlled by the previous regime.
But many Tunisians say their revolution has not yet achieved its goals and are calling for the break-up of the powerful former ruling party.
The government has said elections will be held in six months but no dates have been set and under the constitution they should take place in two months.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meanwhile has called on the embattled Tunisian prime minister to carry out democratic reforms to stem the country's political turmoil, her spokesman said Saturday.
Clinton called Prime Minister Ghannouchi "to encourage ongoing reforms, and pledged support for transition to open democracy," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said in a message on the micro-blogging website Twitter.
Ben Ali resigned abruptly and fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14.
A Canadian government official told AFP on Saturday that one of Ben Ali's brothers-in-law had arrived in Canada on Friday, while Tunisian authorities said they have arrested 33 members of the family and frozen their assets.
Officials say 78 people were killed during weeks of protest and they have been hailed by Tunisia's imams as "martyrs of the revolution".

Power-wash them out

2011-01-23T14:01:00.000-08:00

(in Jackson Mac Low's style of Diastic Read Through Text Selection Procedure)

Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi's for downfall have government
we have rest night-time Tunisian flag
where the former old regime
Tunis with prime to new-found freedoms after world's has inspired Rached Ghannouchi
the government which the previous former
of out dates prime minister to law have their assets
were have ouster Rached Ghannouchi
the president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
from of Tunisian UGTT

© Paterika Hengreaves
January 23, 2011/Barbados
--------------------------------
SOURCE TEXT
Thousands pressure Tunisian PM to quit
(AFP) – 1 hour ago

TUNIS — Thousands of anti-government protesters rallied outside Tunisian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi's offices on Sunday, calling for him to quit after the downfall of the north African state's 23-year regime."The people have come to bring down the government," around 5,000 protesters chanted as they brandished pictures of some of the dozens of people killed by security forces during the uprising against president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.They broke through security cordons to reach the doors of the building.
The new transitional government, put in place following Ben Ali's ouster on January 14, has unveiled unprecedented freedoms but is still led by Ghannouchi. Other old regime figures have also held on to key posts.
"We have come to bring down the rest of the dictatorship," said Mohammed Layani, an elderly man draped in a Tunisian flag, who arrived with hundreds of others from the region in central Tunisia where the uprising began.
The protest was supported by the General Union of Tunisian Workers, known under its French acronym as UGTT, which played a key role in anti-Ben Ali protests and has refused to recognise the fledgling government.
The state news agency, meanwhile, said security forces had detained two more figures linked to the old regime: Senate head Abdallah Kallel, who was a former interior minister, and Abdel Aziz Ben Dhia, a key adviser to Ben Ali and key ideologue of the old regime.
They are being held under house arrest, the report said.
On Saturday, thousands took part in peaceful anti-government demonstration in Tunis and were joined by hundreds of police officers, some of whom briefly blocked a car carrying the country's interim president Foued Mebazaa.
Public assemblies of more than three people are officially banned under a state of emergency that remains in place, along with a night-time curfew.
The curfew has been eased and schools and universities, which have been shut since January 10, are expected to begin re-opening this week.
Ghannouchi has been prime minister in Tunisia since 1999 and has promised to quit politics after the north African state's first democratic elections since independence from France in 1956.
Mebazaa has promised a "total break" with Ben Ali's 23-year rule and the government has announced that political prisoners will be released, media censorship lifted and all political parties legalised.
Many Tunisians are already enjoying their new-found freedoms after the first popular revolt in the Arab world's recent history, which has inspired dissidents to protest in many other parts of the region.
"Free at last!" read a sign spray-painted on the central Avenue Bourguiba.
Regional observers are watching to see how far the ripples from Tunisia's "jasmine revolution" spread.
There have already been numerous cases of self-immolation in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Mauritania like the one that set off the Tunisian protests.
Meanwhile the banned Islamist movement Ennahdha has said it intends to register as an official political party and take part in elections.
Its exiled leader Rached Ghannouchi, who lives in London, was quoted by German weekly Der Spiegel on Saturday saying he would return to his homeland "very soon".
The government on Saturday also lifted restrictions on the import of foreign literature and , which were tightly controlled by the previous regime.
But many Tunisians say their revolution has not yet achieved its goals and are calling for the break-up of the powerful former ruling party.
The government has said elections will be held in six months but no dates have been set and under the constitution they should take place in two months.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meanwhile has called on the embattled Tunisian prime minister to carry out democratic reforms to stem the country's political turmoil, her spokesman said Saturday.
Clinton called Prime Minister Ghannouchi "to encourage ongoing reforms, and pledged support for transition to open democracy," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said in a message on the micro-blogging website Twitter.
Ben Ali resigned abruptly and fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14.
A Canadian government official told AFP on Saturday that one of Ben Ali's brothers-in-law had arrived in Canada on Friday, while Tunisian authorities said they have arrested 33 members of the family and frozen their assets.
Officials say 78 people were killed during weeks of protest and they have been hailed by Tunisia's imams as "martyrs of the revolution".
----------------------------------------

Errol Barrow Day

2011-01-22T18:46:00.000-08:00

Hendianne Sonnet with rhyme scheme ababcdcddedeff for Sir Errol Walton Barrow who was born on January 21, 1939 at Nestfield , St Lucy, Barbados. If he were alive today he would have been 92 years old.

Today is a special day in Bimshire;

So on the telephone I must call Glee;
To share on this special day lots of cheer;
Gleefully Bajans have come out to spree;
Glee-bells are ringing all over the land;
In poetry, songs, dance and ceremony;
With thankful hearts Bajans honour this man;
Brimming with affections eloquently;
This twenty-first day of January
For Barrow, who wore well, more than one hat:
A pilot, Prime Minister and naturally
A true statesman, and a real democrat;
To you, the Father of Independence
Happy Birthday, we wrapped with remembrance.

© Paterika Hengreaves
January 21, 2011/Barbados

Theme: Exile

2011-01-18T22:15:00.000-08:00

(in Haiku Sexain)

The earth still rumbles
Joy, hate and blood exploding
Baby Doc returns

Debris all around
Foreign ovens bake its dough
To feed starving throng

Its mid-harvest there
And its cherry picking time
Papa Doc whispers

Much green backs on ground
Duvalier go weep there now
Love and hate confound

Agenda not clear
Papa Doc what should I do
Go replant my roots

Reconstruction, oui
Donations piled sky high
Papa still loves you

© Paterika Hengreaves
St James, Barbados
January 19, 2011/2:07 AM

Theme: 24/7 Menu

2011-01-18T13:23:00.000-08:00

(in Triple Haiku)

Assertive dinning
Chicken in hot pepper Sauce
Asparagus and split-peas

Mixed Vegetables
On plates Left, right and center
Swim in mushroom sauce

Vegetable stew
No knives and forks cutlery
Just fine China ware

© Paterika Hengreaves
St James, Barbados
2011/3:11 PM

Inspired by Prince William and Kate Middleton

2011-01-16T18:04:00.000-08:00

(in Triple Haiku)

So the Mayflower
Blooms not in Royal bouquet
Plymouth snub indeed

Pilgrims ditched the Brits
Mayflower in Plymouth Sound
Roots in Cape Cod Bay

Tea Party Express
Reads US the Constitution
Union Jack holds sway

© Paterika Hengreaves
Husbands, St James, Barbados
2011/9:55 PM

If Words

2011-01-13T11:34:00.000-08:00

(Theme: Rhyming Wisdom)

If words have no meaning,
If words are empty suits,
With no roots or off shoots;
Then why are we speaking?
Then why are we screaming?

Why speak words unfeeling?
Why speak words misleading?
If words have no meaning,
If words are empty suits,
With no roots or off shoots.

Why speak words of passion,
In linguistic fashion,
If words have no meaning;
If words are empty suits,
With no roots or off shoots?

Why humans have this gift,
Non-persons a makeshift,
If words have no meaning,
If words are empty suits
With no roots or off shoots?

Words have consequences,
And Words make sentences,
With heaps of imagery,
To lead divergent thoughts
Through webs of juggernauts.

Words do rain down judgement,
On the past and present,
With heaps of metaphors
To lead divergent thoughts
Through the rich and have-nots.

All words do have meaning;
Words are not empty suits;
They grow roots and off shoots;
Flush all the vitriol
Down toilet once for all.

Bridle flapping red flag
With civilities' tag;
For words do have meaning;
They are not empty suits;
They grow roots and off shoots.

Tone up red flag daily;
Christina sings brightly;
Ever Green with meaning,
Growing roots and offshoots;
Words are not empty suits.

Sunflowers light snuff out
In Arizona's drought
Drying tears with sane words
Tucson's love swamps the throng
In speeches and their song.

Spread sunflower seeds around;
Where frienemies abound;
In our thoughts and deeds;
Tolerance grows good seeds;
In democracy's ground.

© Paterika Hengreaves
Thursday, January 12, 2011/12:31 PM
Cassia Drive, Barbados

No Friendly Sky Anymore

2011-01-04T21:01:00.000-08:00

(Diastic Reading-through Procedures of Jackson Mac Low)

Now
do

Flashbacks
cries
Friends
Skies
human
ground
friendly
Covertly

Seas
skies
say

Acts
and
cry
garments
junior
terror
justice

Click here to read comments on this egoless poem

Avian Christmas Dish Wish

2010-12-23T21:10:00.000-08:00

Three days before Christmas of twenty ten;
Strolling as usual under cherry tree,
I was on my wild hunting regimen;

Feline behavior really sets me free.

The killer instinct still dwells within me;
Predatory drives my hunting for sport;
Regardless of how well fed I might be,

Domesticated in home of Bridgeport.

On boughs my four padded feet found support
Among wet leaves at the breaking of dawn
Birds among the green, games I wished to court;

Poetry dish wish on the day Christ was born.

Through cherried boughs I scaled that early morn,
With every climb my wish grew out of sight;
"Come down Ginger, you are no leprechaun";

The voice I heard was stern but yet polite.

Orderly the Whiskas cat lost its height;
The birds got their cherry-merry Christmas;
All the trees vibrated with "Silent Night",

And church bells signaled time for midnight mass.

© Paterika Hengreaves
December 2010/Barbados

Poems for Barbados Independence Day

2010-11-30T08:41:00.000-08:00

Here is the list of poems to help you celebrate our 45th Year of Independence.

(Click on the Titles to read/listen to the poem)

A Square within a Square
Barrow with a Caribbean Tattoo, too
Bajan Conkies
Cou Cou
Exocoetidae (Flying Fish)
Kadooment Day
Leadership Bajan Style
Major Concern for Squatters, Major Concern
Nelson
Ode to a Swing Bridge Bulldozed
Ode to Erdiston
Ode to the Ghost of Sam Lord
Police Wives Association of Barbados
Sea-eggs
Shalom
Snow on the Mountain
Sugarcane
The Barbados Museum
The Barrow that Built a Nation
The Christmas Candle
The Christmas Candle Tree
The Christmas Lamp
The Christmas Palm
The Story about a Grackle
The Talking Pigeon Pea
Dems Bees
The Father of Barbados Independence
The New Curriculum
The Tribal Beat of Distant Drums
The Trident Nation
The View
Treasures
Yes, Yes, Yes

Felony before Terror

2010-11-14T02:19:00.000-08:00

(in Double Acrostic Mesostich)

Fires on bush put brave souls to the test;
eager suicide bombers everywhere minds overflow with evil;
leaving plenty dreadful acts to fall in the snow and thunderous rain;
obstructing the rightful ownership comes from angry rogues'
nagging, in demonic reckless mindset does overflow
year-round, CIA's eyes sieve through tuff rumors.

© Paterika Hengreaves

Flashbacks

2010-10-19T20:55:00.000-07:00

Now we see rain clouds with thunder ahead
Our hearts still do bleed

Flashbacks bring to mind raindrops looking like zeros with tails, yes we
Remember the falling plates, knives and forks on bodies piles scattered wide for
It is there, in fiery mounds our distant family staggered, swayed and died
Evil acts rained down that autumn day, we West Indians watched on CNN
Nine-eleven changed forever our moods and fashion we do wear too
Dressed in early Halloween masquerading, these eastern demons everywhere
Lingering and mingling still, they show in covert places their sinister faces
You hide in holes your forte, like the foxking, beasts that’s what you are .

Shall we give up! Or be inspired by the heroes of the Copiapo mine?
Kin and friendly allies came out in battle under way, to capture and repair;
Yankees by George! We’ll hunt them, come morning, noon, night and day.

America to the north, America to the south firmly we stand;
Noble and true to the cause of justice for all;
You our foes will have no place to park, hide or hang your hats
Murmur to Uncle Sam we shall not, when justice-hands we shake for all when
Our forces might uproot your evil plants you plant, for we have the
Right, to fight said Bush with Blair-ing sound; we heed the bugle call;
Events of rightful fruits in arms, stars and sparkles, democracy beams US its light.

© Paterika Hengreaves

Heroes

2010-10-10T06:54:00.000-07:00

(in Acrostic Reversed-Telestich)

Here and there we hear about folks
each with actions we do revere
reflect we must on ground zero
one by one each fire fighter
engaged strong will in episode
saved many lives from grave anguish…

© Paterika Hengreaves
October 10, 2010/Cassia Drive, St. James South, Barbados

Good Friday

2010-10-08T06:40:00.000-07:00

(in Acrostic Telestich)

Gloria thinks we should serve fishcakes not beef;
olives with stuffed red peppers from a jar;
oil in the pan, not much to cook the kai;
dish of tossed salad will be fine indeed;
... Good heavens! It’s Friday again Melda;
... Leftovers water money-tree each day.

© Paterika Hengreaves
Husbands Terrace, St. James South, Barbados

Climbing Rose

2010-10-04T13:04:00.001-07:00

(in Triolet)

Oh rose! You cling and climb with flair
As seedling, grown in early prime,
Parading beauty shines in air.
Oh rose! You cling and climb with flair
Attracting critters flying near
In morning, noon and even time!
Oh rose! You cling ad climb with flair
As seedling, grown in early prime.

© Paterika Hengreaves
August 2003/Barbados

Park of Blooms

2010-10-04T09:06:00.000-07:00

(in Decimeter)

That blooming park is found across the road;
Vagrancy explodes in every mode.
Mongooses and green monkeys roam;
Toads paddle amid the foam.
Tainted colors explode
Where, foul scents abode.
In fertile loam
ants decode
when gloam
falls.

© Paterika Hengreaves
April 2006/Ohio, USA

Upon Leaving USA

2010-09-21T12:28:00.000-07:00

(in Monometer)

The stress,
And worry
Were more
Than she
Could bear.

Took jet;
Away
From the
Fires,
Of Maine.

She came;
To spend
Two weeks
At her
Mother's
Homestead.

The stress,
Behind;
Was more
Than she
Could bear.

The break,
Away,
Was great.

She left,
Again,
For Maine;
Having
Regained
Her health.

Hurrah!
Blessings
Received...

© Paterika Hengreaves
St. James, Barbados 2010

No Friendly Sky Anymore

2010-09-11T03:25:00.000-07:00

It is fair and right to say
That the people
Of the West Indies
Do mourn with thee

We have watched
From the islands
Of the Caribbean
Glued to television sets
In disbelief

The September
Events

And now
With trace of tears
Still lingering
We do remember

America
We do cry with you
Because these evil acts
Are for all mankind too

Our hearts do bleed
At the loss
Inflicted
By terrorists
And their boss

These thoughts
That you
Do read here
Are real
And shall be
Our lasting nightmare

To be haunted
By flashbacks
Of nine-eleven

America attacked
By a gang
Of more than seven

We
With gaping mouths
And bulging eyes
Watched planes
Attack buildings
Amid the horrible
Cries

People trapped
Inside the inferno
With no hope
Of seeing tomorrow
As their helpless friends
And kin
Looked
To the skies
In horror

Yankees, and we all
Have had enough
Of this terrorist band
Parading
Across that beautiful
And noble land

Dressed in garments
And wearing
A human face
They plotted
Covertly
To zap
The American race

To those families there
And across the seas
With fallen people
At ground zero
And elsewhere
Rest assured
America will not stand
For another judgement error

So spoke
Bush-junior
And with him a Blair-ring
Vowed, to hit back terror
In all its shades...for
By George
America will attack

We, with friendly forces
Will fight terror
In every nook
And cranny
And there will be
No cause for you
To murmur
To Uncle Sam

Justice
Fair play
Integrated
With all our forces’ might

For in God
We put our trust
Because the cause
Is good

© Paterika Hengreaves
Composed on a West Indian island
September 12, 2001 after watching CNN pictures
on the aftermath of that dreadful day
I shall remember as long as I live.

venus goddess of love

2010-09-04T19:58:00.000-07:00

(Acrostic in Open Form)

very interesting question really (really it is i say) really
engaging as any discussion should (need i remind you)
naturally i suspect nothing else would, nothing else could
unite my lonely heart (perched like a water melon
sensuously i crave) for the fuse to spark, for i to light my way to you

grantedly you did not expect such an answer (my, my i disappoint)
obviously your concern i respect more than a cluster of grapes on lips, i
don't expect simple answers (never did) nor would i
derail the actions of your love (i love you like a snowcone) and my
emotions keep me soaring (like a weather balloon falling)
stinging my heart with pulsating rhythm peeling away gray skies from eyes
swimming, like a water lily (i bask in the glow of your love)

overwhelming though it is upon my crest (i cling to know) that
friendship grows the vine from which my

love flows from jolts of aftershocks
out of every crack upon my beastly hide (my perspiring love) more
valuable than any diamond washing the shores of
ebay, couldn’t spark the love i have for you (i carry it in my heart)

© Paterika Hengreaves

Comments

This acrostic poem on “venus goddess of love” is written in Open Form. Open form poetry is really Free Verse. It looks like metered poetry at first glance. However, it does not conform to established patterns of meter , rhyme and stanza. It derives its rhythmic properties from the repetition of words, phrases or grammatical structures, the arrangement of words on the page, or by some other means. The Twentieth century American poet E. E. Cummings is well known for writing Open Form poetry. Indeed, his poems do not have measurable meter, but they definitely have great rhythm. He experimented radically with structure, punctuation, spelling and syntax. As it were, he abandoned traditional techniques and created his highly idiosyncratic means of poetic expression. His critics said of him that he settled into his signature style and did not bother to carry his work to the next evolutionary level. Be that as it may, Cummings’ simplistic poetic language, his playful mode and obsession with topics on war and sex continues to capture the poetic hearts of young readers. It is now forty-eight years since his death but his poetic style lives on.

Hurricane Preparedness Watch

2010-09-03T04:32:00.000-07:00

(Didactic Poem with Iambic Pentemeter Quatrains rhyming aabb)

or
Click here to listen

Hurakan is blowing its breath again;
Aimed at devastation and heaps of pain;
Twenty-one for twenty hundred and four;
Eight of them have killed millions and more.

Each hurricane on the list bears a name;
So with ease we track them before they maim;
Their names start with letters from alphabet,
But q u and z are not in the set.

Names of tropical storms on six-year list
Are Atlantic storms; their big eyes can twist;
Of French, Spanish and English origin;
Named after major borders they do spin.

Retired storms have marred our history;
Killer-canes of this twenty-first Century;
For now, the worst ones on the list will show
Katrina, and Rita outdid Hugo.

These tropical cyclones cannot be stopped,
Because each has a huge eye that will pop;
Upon reaching Gulf States, and island sands
At speeds, that Saffir-Simpson understands.

We ponder on the things to do each year;
When Cyclopes, and wind dragoons are near;
We fight them tooth and nail in every way;
Come August to November every day.

We keep watch, wait, and offer up a prayer
For all these hurricanes to disappear
From Gulf coast, and islands within the chain;
Then on to storm preparedness watch again.

We berth boats in the basin of the bay;
Heed what meteorologist has to say;
Branches we clip, and items that can fly
We store them with canned foods, but no fish fry.

We’ll close stores, and folks will find their abode;
September! We are in the waiting mode;
Good grief! It is a category five;
Take shelter for its devastating dive.

© Paterika Hengreaves
September, 2005/Barbados

Click here to read comments from the author on this poem

Twisted

2010-09-01T05:19:00.000-07:00

(Acrostic Septet)

True to form the media have no shame;
writing notes on palm and brain juggles clues;
imagination lost on ruby lips;
searching between fingers for words that rhyme;
thinking how best they would turn heat around;
exuberance like floes covers the air;
dies when humor gallops on a nightmare.

© Paterika Hengreaves
February 9, 2010/Barbados

Comments:

This acrostic poem “Twisted” has seven pentameter verses. Simply put, it is an Acrostic Septet with end-stops. The end-stops are any type of punctuation marks shown at the end of line verses. Those appearing in this poem are the semicolon, and the full stop. End-stops have interesting effects in slowing down the reading pace in the poem. Alexander Pope and other 18th century poets favored the use of end-stops in their heroic couplets. When couplets in iambic pentameter verses rhyme they are called heroic couplets. An example of the heroic couplet is seen in the last two lines of verse in this poem.

Scott Base

2010-08-17T08:14:00.000-07:00

Sea ice across the Lamarie Channel;
Coldest environ on south-polar land;
Osmosis reversed by working seabees;
Terra flow minus forty-five degrees;
Ten kilometers base camp from South Pole;

Bold Kiwis near Erebus roll out green plan
Across "White Continent" stuck on earth's tail;
Shackelton for Ross renewed energy;
Edmund Hillary liked the synergy.

© Paterika Hengreaves

Comments:

This poem “Scott Base” was composed at Husbands Terrace, St. James South, Barbados on October 29, 2008 after taking a virtual trip to Antarctica. The virtual trip to Antarctic with a stop-over at Scott Base in its infancy motivated this Acrostic poem. The poem has pentameter verses with a rhyme scheme abccd abcc. The didactic thread in this Acrostic poem is about the early exploration of the South Pole from a bird’s eye view and in a nutshell.

New Zealand history asserts that under the overall command of the British explorer Dr Vivian Fuchs, Sir Edmund Hillary lead 18 members of a component of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, made up of five scientists from New Zealand in 1955-58. Sir Hillary on January 10, 1957 declared Scott Base open for scientific business. Sir Edmund Hillary who had come down from Mount Everest a little over three years was the first Kiwi to winter over at Scott Base, and the first Kiwi in the company of Derek Wright and Murray Ellis to reach Mount Erebus in Antarctica in a Ferguson tractor on January 20, 1958.

Scott Base is a research facility located in Antarctica and it is operated by New Zealand. It was named after Captain Robert Falcon Scott of the Royal Navy and leader of two British expeditions to the Ross Sea area of Antarctica. Located on Ross Island near Mount Erebus in New Zealand's Ross Dependency territorial claim, it was set up as support to field research and the centre for research into earth sciences, but now conducts research in many fields. It is made up of a collection of lime-green buildings which are linked by all-weather corridors. My research findings on Scott Base state that these buildings can accommodate eighty-five people during the Antarctic summer, and with a limited staff of between ten to fourteen people during the Antarctic winter.

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton CVO, (Royal Victorian Order) OBE (Order of the British Empire) life on earth spanned 15 February 1874 to 5 January 1922. He was an Anglo-Irish explorer who was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. His first experience of the Polar Regions was as a third officer on Captain Robert Falcon Scott's Discovery Expedition, 1901-1904 from which he returned home early on health issues. So determined was he to erase this perceived personal failure, he returned to Antarctica in 1907 as head of the Nimrod Expedition. In January 1909 he and three companions made a southern march which established a record “Farthest South” (term used to denote the most southerly latitudes reached by explorers before the conquest of the South Pole in 1911). Shackleton was knighted by King Edward VII on his return home for his achievement.

The race to the South Pole ended in 1912 with Roald Amundsen's conquest, so Shackleton turned his attention to what he said was the one remaining great object of Antarctic journeying--the crossing of the continent from sea to sea, via the pole. This expedition of his became known as the “Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914-17.” Disaster struck this expedition when its ship, Endurance was trapped in pack ice and slowly crushed, this followed with a sequence of exploits, and ultimate escape with no lives lost, this cemented the heroic status on Shackleton.

In 1921 Shackleton returned to the Antarctic with the “Shackleton-Rowett Expedition”, intending to carry out a program of scientific and survey activities. However, before Shackleton could begin this work he died of a heart attack while his ship named the "Quest", was moored in South Georgia. At the request of his wife, Shackleton was buried in South Georgia. Previously, South Georgia had been governed as part of the Falkland Islands Dependencies. Argentina claimed South Georgia in 1927. South Georgia is still being claimed by Argentina. They based such claim to South Georgia on the fact that Argentine forces contributed to the 1982 Falklands War.

The poem makes mention of Ross alluding to Sir James Clark Ross born in London on 15 April 1800 and died at the age of sixty-one. He was a British naval officer and explorer. He explored the Arctic but is known more for his expeditions in Antarctica. Between 1839 and 1843 Ross commanded an Antarctic expedition comprising the vessels HMS Erebus and HMS Terror and charted much of the coastline of the continent.

Mount Erebus and Mount Terror were named after the vessels HMS Erebus and HMS Terror under the command of Sir James Clark Ross used in the 1838 and 1843 Antarctic expedition that mapped much of the coastline of Antarctica. Mount Erebus is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, which includes over 160 active volcanoes. Ross Island (Antarctic Peninsula) is named after James Clark Ross; so too is the Ross Ice Shelf, the largest ice shelf of Antarctica. Most of Ross Ice Shelf is located within the Ross Dependency claimed by New Zealand; it was set up as support to field research and the centre for research into earth sciences, but now conducts research in many fields.

Without a doubt, the world has come to embrace and to respect the pioneers of Antarctica. Transport on the continent of Antarctica has transformed from explorers crossing the isolated remote area of the South Pole on foot to a more open area due to human technologies enabling more convenient and faster transport by land and predominantly by air and water. The use of huskies to pull researchers and sledges has been banned on objections that huskies are an alien species to Antarctica and menace to wildlife as super-predators.

PWAoB

2010-08-16T07:18:00.000-07:00

Police wives from across Bimshire island;
Without doubt, Grace called them to come on out;
At Weymouth grounds, plenty words lips did spout
on ways, to complement their Police Force;
By charitable deeds, they did enforce.

Plank by plank wives built up foundation’s base;
Welded talents rose from kitchen table;
And keenly cabinet did assemble
on March twenty-six, nineteen eighty-four;
Birth PWA, first on this shore.

Pledging their friendship, unity and strength;
Wives of Bajan policemen formed this club;
And this association is their hub
of grand, charitable activities;
Blending their zeal and sensitivities;

Proudly wives wear their pin of allegiance;
Where’re they go standing out in the crowd;
As “Image” pens their thoughts, their ovens shroud
out baked treats, serve up for the common good;
Brimming plates and thoughts each cheer as they could;

Pantries stock scholarships with welfare plates;
With head, heart and soul running together;
All hands working together, they weather
on the twenty-fifth reach, still growing years;
Bonded by those goals of its pioneers.

© Paterika Hengreaves

Comments:

This poem is in the form of an acrostic with quintet verses. A stanza made up of five verses is called a quintet. The title of this poem is in the form of an abbreviation and brings to mind some kind of puzzle. However, the poem provides many clues in its imagery for cracking the puzzled title which stands for: Police Wives Association of Barbados.

The title is made up of four capital letters and a lower case letter. This is acceptable because orthography would have it that you mix capital letters and lower case , without periods, capital letters usually for lexical words, lower case letters for grammatical words.

Alisajs

2010-08-14T18:46:00.000-07:00

(in Acrostic)

Adorably you muse with plenty of
love and romance, woven
into delicate, cognitive threads
sown exquisitely together
as well, you grasp tightly a
jardinière in your hands
sending lots of sunshine, to golden sands…

Comments:
The poem “Alisajs” is an acrostic written in a non-compliant form called Free Verse. This is so because it does not comply with the rules governing metered poetry. This free flow allowed the poet to write freely without worrying about trying to make the words fit a specific meter, rhyme scheme or stanza.

What message is being conveyed in this poem? How can you find out what message the poem is designed to convey? And how can you be sure that indeed you have accurately figured out what the poet is really communicating through the speaker of the poem? Not really unless you have the rare opportunity to sit down with the poet and have a frank discussion on the matter. To read the rest of the comments click on this link

© Paterika Hengreaves

The Wedding Party live.wmv

2010-08-02T09:49:00.000-07:00

"Butterflies" Original By Doug Payne (coomadoug)

2010-08-02T09:14:00.000-07:00

Kadooment Day

2010-07-31T03:40:00.000-07:00

(The Villanelle Poem)

Jamming on kadooment day, from dawn to dusk, playing mask
Revellers from everywhere, including France
In brazen wear and tear, they bask

In the sun, sipping fermented juice from a bamboo flask
Tourists, jumping, whirling and twirling have come to prance
Jamming on kadooment day, from dawn to dusk, playing mask

Sea of people on Spring Garden, round a cask
Chanting calypso songs, in native parlance
In brazen wear and tear, they bask

So Crop Over comes many months after Pasch
While vermin grind, sweet grass, with a weasel-mouth lance
Jamming on kadooment day, from dawn to dusk, playing mask

All year these wild rats, make camouflaging an easy task
In the cane fields to flex the Ministry of Finance
In brazen wear and tear, they bask

Scampering across roads into fields to axe
The grass, while advancing bands of socaholics dance
Jamming on kadooment day, from dawn to dusk, playing mask
In brazen wear and tear, they bask.

© Paterika Hengreaves

The poem, "Kadooment Day" is written in the form of the English Villanelle. The Villanelle is of French origin. This poetic form uses repetition. The English equivalent of the French Villanelle is a fixed form poetry consisting of:

Nineteen verses of any length divided into -:

- 6 stanzas
- 5 tercet stanzas
- 1 concluding quatrain

Verses 1 and 3 of the initial Tercet rhyme. These rhymes are repeated in each subsequent Tercet (aba) and in the final two verses of the quatrain (abaa)

Verse 1 appears in its entirety as verses 6, 12 and 18

Verse 3 reappears as verses 9, 15 and 19.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crop Over is a Bajan-Caribbean cane harvest festival in the West Indies. The festivities run for several weeks to celebrate the end of the sugar cane harvest.

Kadooment Day is the last day of Crop Over which commences on July 1 and ends on the August 1. It is a summer street carnival with all the noise, colour and vibrancy you’d expect from a Caribbean carnival. Get into the furrow with local drinks and cuisine; join the throng as bands and calypso musicians parade through the streets. Glittering costumes and plenty of “bare skin” are on show amidst a melee of revellers, stilt walkers, musicians and entertainers. Such fun and celebrations continue well into the wee hours of the morning so you’ll need plenty of stamina. Tourists world over are drawn to this festival annually.

“fermented juice from a bamboo flask” = rum in bottle

“sweet grass” = sugar cane

Stanza 5 alludes to the fact that rats are a menace to the sugar cane fields as they wreak havoc upon the ripening sugar cane. These rodents can cause much financial loss to the second source of foreign exchange and this is a concern.

News

2010-07-21T17:14:00.000-07:00

(Category: Social Commentary)

Network of gossip comes from
every part of the universe, and so
we search each day
sieving for truth; hidden lies laid bare.

© Paterika Hengreaves

Click on the video below to hear the Author commenting on the poem

Love

2010-07-11T20:17:00.000-07:00

(in Acrostic)

Lasting in the minds it could, when
oneness of hearts is good;
valuable as any diamond should;
endearingly it is, and so very pure.

Lend an ear as we speak on the subject my friend;
observably, it is not hard to comprehend;
variable they may say, but this you should know;
each new day, love is on display.

Let us accept through faith that God is love;
only His love is dogmatically so very real;
valuable it is, for it drives, and fuels the thirsty soul;
everlastingly it streams, over the mountains of life.

Longingly, we search for such goodness, for we know
out there, His arms hug us all, and so
vastly; He gives the wings to soar above mountain tops;
endless love, He gives all, and generations yet to come.

© Paterika Hengreaves

Click here to read Author's Comments

Lighthouse

2010-07-06T03:46:00.000-07:00

Look! straight through the window to the far right;
in the eyes a sentinel of delight
guiding those battered souls, away from shoals;
heavenly bliss wrapped up in its structure
towers over, the land high in the sky;
hope for all folks who are adrift at sea.
overcast with nightshades you still do shine
unrestricted, you beam your light divine.
such rock and steel, you stand still to adore;
eyeing, you bring lost ones safely ashore.

© Paterika Hengreaves

Click on this link to hear the author commenting on this poem

Want Our Life Back

2010-06-20T17:43:00.000-07:00

(a rhyming didactic Sestina)

We love cars, cats and the rustic garden;
A green thumb is a plus for growing things;
The garden song sings “We beg your pardon”;
To plants and fauna for the blatant wrong;
Such inner thoughts give us the eagle’s wings
To dream of soaring on clouds all day long;

Checking and logging all trees stretch time long;
Dry fingers casting spells on the garden;
Leaves falling to earth like parachute’s wings;
Compost beds breed all sort of nasty things;
Five-fingers starry eyes see miles of wrong
Trailing barnacles send no such pardon.

Beepee gulfed up a belated pardon;
This abuse on minds goes on way too long;
Polluting waters so insanely wrong;
Giant snails leave caustic slime in garden;
Their kiss of death breathes on all sorts of things;
Jets are the only things now with whole wings.

Pelicans walk like crabs; they have no wings;
While corporate greed gets “lone-star” pardon,
For oily fingers do drive gears on things;
The thrill of the drill marches deep and long;
We want our life back in the garden
As was, geico gecko this can’t be wrong!

Abusing nature’s hands that feed is wrong;
Heat in the House grew Atlantic flight wings;
Off he goes; drinks tea in English garden;
Him wearing crest of a southern pardon;
On his racing yacht’s main sail wide and long;
Shake down cherries bring smiles on earthly things.

We give lip-service to recycling things;
Pointing fingers at who is doing wrong;
This curse in the eyes has gone on too long;
We abuse mother-nature’s heart and wings;
And mouth on spotlight a stagecoach pardon;
Change ways or be chased like Eve from garden.

Among garden things name creatures with wings;
Nature suffers wrong; goes without pardon;
We wait all day long; oil waters garden.

© Paterika Hengreaves

Specialization

2010-06-11T06:01:00.000-07:00

(in Prose Poetry)

Centuries ago; this was so. Fishing, farming and mining ore…so it was…no oil...well…manufacturing and recycling of yore. No spills and lots of manure…from one hand for sure did... farming, stitching, washing, cooking and so much more. Jack-of-all-trades so the story goes. Specialization was for them an eyesore.

Up comes Bill Gates on the scene, creating software for the computer screen, subdividing tasks into numerous schemes. Body, mind and soul integrated supremely…specializing, dividing the whole and feeding so many more…monopoly went through the door. Productivity and competition we adore…but…too many heads…make Bad Pea…soup…Blatant Pain for sure across our deep horizon.

© Paterika Hengreaves

Glowing so Lovely

2010-06-09T04:42:00.000-07:00

(in Prose Poetry)

Scores of candle-colour blooms in homes and round the globe; love dust dripping from candle wick enticing and bewitching; dripping and grinning like a Cheshire cat. Making candles with skilful fingers is like holding a rose on a stem of thorns; protective gear is all that it demands skimming fat from animals’ hide; spurting perfume from all shapes and hues; evil spirits no longer in the dark and mosquitoes take hasty flight; so there, I can rest and pleasant thoughts in the head tossing and turning and enjoying my king-size bed.

© Paterika Hengreaves

From a Different Perspective

2010-06-08T08:50:00.000-07:00

(in Prose Poetry)

Talk about some people. They say anything. Tongue tattling and changing course like the lizard’s hide monitoring the rays of the sun. Chasing for scores with stripes come hell or high water. Self-inflicted pain for fame a burning shame; thinking divergently well applauded but hypocrisy in bed with democracy is plain crazy. Independent thought is best when self-preserved; paycheck guaranteed. Gossip makes good party talk keeping the lava lamp aglow like the oily robots deep down in the Gulf off Louisiana no mouth caps can stop the flow of piping hype and drive. And still hear another point that must be drilled but riddle I must tell: know when to walk, know when to run; know when to quit and know when to trim the wit. Never grow old in one spot making wrinkles flutter like ribbons on a circus tent. A dinosaur in the Millennium Age wag not your tongue, a sword will nail you down for you must, know when to quit with your wit; know when to run; senility and civility are mere rhymes in these times ditto --but I love the music coming from the bag…pipe.

© Paterika Hengreaves

Marketing Career

2010-06-07T10:20:00.000-07:00

(in Prose Poetry)

Marketing is the name…the game of wielding and dealing for capital gain in the country and in the town by the tongue. The competitive edge bringing out the best and worst of humankind; miss the mark…autumn splashes on her demonic smiles; the gush, lush of spring no more in the toes...the woes; the purchasing dollar higher than Everest; and marketers and racketeers play golf on her top, joyously shelling four-pees…these four-arm bandits; the consumers albatross…product, price, promotion and a place to store are the gods of the marketing world that consumers…honor sun up, sun down to ward off spirited debt collectors and foreclosure from their doors. Ha ha! Marketing careers are so exciting and rewarding when jobs are found. A CEO position is the ladder to climb...Missteps…fall…in the slime…pelicans in Mexican Gulf.

©Paterika Hengreaves

Production Revisited

2010-06-01T08:47:00.000-07:00

(a Prose Poem)

Prosaically speaking, production is everywhere for Tom, Dick, Harry and Mary to see. Production is in the air, under the sea and on the land. Tangible and intangible, these products are in demand. The goods are to satisfy the consumers’ wants and needs, but how can we keep them please when their minds, at times, as fickle as the morning breeze! Such delicate flowers, we must handle them with care for dissatisfied customers are the sellers’ worse nightmare. Production, our economic cake is not easy to make. So many resources, natural, human and capital from many hands and lands, it demands, truly. The marketing mix must be blended very well. Greedy competition is great with every ring of the Wall Street bell. Economies of scale, Exxon, Mobil are some of the giants of the business world competing with Lilliputians, the tiny cottage industries, are so very mean; when their economic terrorism strikes the wee lot, so small and lean. The gas attacks moving about a body are too much to bear the Dica relief to no avail; and the fishy oil causing diarrhea from the mouth to butt everywhere; meanwhile dancing the bebop is BP testing the mess only killing smiles by miles as Katrina persists on wearing her gaga creations and fishy foul smelling underwear. Monopolistic power tied with mystic conglomerate squeeze all around. Consumers’ freedom of choice is dead, buried and bound.

©Paterika Hengreaves

Roses

2010-05-25T06:02:00.000-07:00

(Double Acrostic)

Rejoice and give thanks to the Redeemer;
open ears to the sound of the oboe;
search those colorful blooms beneath the sky;
excursions in the mind do entertain;
so much wisdom keeps flowing from that sage.

©Paterika Hengreaves

Haiti's Holler

2010-05-20T06:51:00.000-07:00

(in Double Acrostic)

Hope walks amid the loss and human Holler
angry earth rumbles with jaws open
inside crumbled structures eyes see labyrinth
terror unleashed on ravished lands
icelandic rage purges its bowels in euro
surges to the west, the Gulf of Mexico reciprocates

© Paterika Hengreaves

Barbadian National Heroes with Statues

2010-04-28T10:03:00.000-07:00

Sir Errol Walton Barrow in Independence Square, Bridgetown

Sir Grantley Adams at Government Headquarters, Bay Street, St. Michael

Sir Frank Walcott

Sir Garfield Sobers our only living hero

The Hendecasyllable Blooming Forest

2010-04-23T07:48:00.000-07:00

Yonder in blooming forest stands a white house;
The high road and the low road all lead to it;
Its express traffic spins on the gas of Gauss;
One is mindful about the parity bit.

Rejoice and always give some thanks to the King;
Search nature’s wardrobe for her exotic blooms;
Watch! How the heliconia claws each thing;
Much mistrust everywhere around them mushrooms.

False birds of paradise nest in the forest;
Watch those fireflies in seasons of rebirth;
Plenty humans compete to win the contest;
Their endless acid vile wells out no such mirth.

The chatter of green monkeys and raucous birds;
Disturb the whole serenity of the woods;
Politico feeds on the best gaffs in words;
Their floral arrangements shape their brand of goods.

Greatly in flower forest stands the white house;
It beamed in the darkest knight with dazzling light;
The heliconic bush still claws with great rouse
This bailout handout is no ‘Turkish delight’!

© Paterika Hengreaves

The Cinquain Chain

2010-04-15T05:07:00.000-07:00

Christmas
comes once a year
all Christians everywhere
celebrate Nativity at

Christmas

such a Christian
festival with good cheer
brings the dawn of a New Year at

Christmas

and good deeds flow
from humanity’s soul
we worship baby Jesus at

Christmas

gorgeous colors
and lots of jingle bells
singing carols old and new at

Christmas

wishing this cheer

sticks like glue to all hearts
and stays in place all the year for

Christmas

to nurture folks
that are sick and lonely
keep the love of Jesus beyond

Christmas

and Christmas Eve
when busy crowds subside
the malls become deserted at

Christmas

Turkeys' necks cut

so are chickens and ducks

wishing the fowlplay would stop at

Christmas

those birds must cluck
under the mistletoe
with vocal chords to say Merry

Christmas

is in the air
with lots of laughter too
presents all wrapped with pretty bows at

Christmas

now sit beneath
the lighted Christmas tree
with tiny ornaments that dance at

Christmas

jolly Santa

sitting in crowded malls
with kids laughing Oh! Ho! Merry

Christmas

trees shine brightly
to help us find our way
and in the air the church bells ring

Christmas

season is here
along with midnight mass
we hear voices in choirs at

Christmas

sweet soprano
blends the bass and tenor
to families and neighbors at

Christmas

rich and poor mix
in unison they sing
streaming carols and music at
Christmas

Elegy for Angela Barnes, RN

2010-04-14T03:52:00.000-07:00

(in Elegiac Couplets)

Checking those charts at her station with keen eyes; Angela read all;

September, sweet voice nightingale's fell in the snowfall;

Numbness in body with shaky emotions that caved in and laid bear

Teardrops fell from those people with sadness and despair.

Big C punctured the body with deep pain digging her dark grave;

Grief flags! Broken in spirit and endlessly make wave;

Glass sealed! Loneliness, Angela frozen in time, and she has gone;

Roses on grave; swans, sentinels swimming on the pond.

Faces of copper, and grey clouds hovering heads of the pall-crew;

Soul-mate has gone forever; Angie in dark blue;

Doves in the dim room mourning and cheerlessly cooing her fond hymns;

Crippled with pain hugged Angela shattered her numb limbs.

Six white swans in the pond wade; splash cool spray on her beauty;

Strong horse, six months; spent as a flower so empty;

Pond ebbs, spraying on water and fresh spa cooling her mosses;

Pages of life bring options with choices and losses.

Cradle of love, and the mercies of God, give gifts to us so true;

Shared on this third year; memories; thinking of you too;

God of all gives us the assurance; blessings that flow from the Most High;

Sweet rest, God' peace stay with you earthen with goodbye.

© Paterika Hengreaves
November 2, 2006/Autumn,Ohio,USA

Angela Barnes. Died September 16, 2006.
Resting in peace. Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens.
Collage Park, Georgia,USA

Spice Isle Wedding - Part IV

2010-02-16T09:45:00.000-08:00

Toss bridal bouquet, all said yes;
Unanimous vote came from guests;
On grassy slope shoes kicked aside;
Naked feet moved from side to side.

One determined mind to crop prize;
A winning plan she did devise;
Obstacles in hand placed on ground;
Participants gathered around.

Bride tossed bouquet in wedding dress
In mid-air, whose hands will it bless?
Like greased lightning the bouquet flew;
Michelle after it did pursue.

Michelle's outstretched hands cupped the prize;
And with the legend it supplies;
In grand style she holds the bouquet;
Congratulations poured her way.

Now she poses with the new bride
What thoughts now in her head reside?
A wish that soon she too would wed;
Of course, such thoughts she never said.

(To be continued)

Haiti's Earthquake Horrors

2010-02-03T09:55:00.000-08:00

(In Ballade Form)

Those memories keep on flashing;
My head is as heavy as lead;
Desperate hands in marl scratching;
Earth shakes; rubble covers the dead,
And buildings toppled like slice bread;
Folks are reeling from serpent's sting
Devastation around them spread;
Folks are reeling from serpent's sting.

Folks still dying; houses crashing ;
Voodoo gods wave oracle creed;
The aftershocks are nerve-racking;
Food, shelter and medics they need
To flee, to the hills with great speed
On life support and any thing;
America comes with airspeed;
Folks are reeling from serpent's sting.

Here and there dazed folks are dashing,
Like animals in a stampede,
With rubble on ground formatting,
And child-eating spirits mind read
Squalors' brains, to plant dreadful seed;
The jail fell, jailbirds have no string;
Babies are crying, can't breastfeed;
Folks are reeling from serpent's sting.

Prince Harry in Bimshire indeed;
He fundraised in a socca swing
For Haitians, to help stop their bleed;
Folks are reeling from serpent's sting.

© Paterika Hengreaves
February 3, 2010/Barbados

Knavery

2010-01-31T06:55:00.000-08:00

(in Senryu)

thieves bask in sunshine
time ultimately sneaks up
pants drop on the ground

justice chariots
wielding knives that carve deeply
retribution reigns

© Paterika Hengreaves
January 31, 2010/Barbados

Senryu Chain

2010-01-30T06:52:00.000-08:00

(Theme: Hope)

like feathers hope is
the ointment for yearning souls
singing without words

running with success
reoccurring decimal
boldface desire

© Paterika Hengreaves
January 30, 2010/Barbados

Senryu

2010-01-29T07:48:00.000-08:00

(Theme: Liberty)

liberty has wings
navigating shallow minds
despising all laws

-o0o-

freedom lights wise eyes
and finds in each growing cell
potent law of laws

© Paterika Hengreaves
January 29, 2010/Barbados

Errol Walton Barrow, The Statesman

2010-01-19T11:07:00.000-08:00

(In Terza Rima)

Found island a garden of villages,
Father of Barbados' Independence ,
And plantations steep with British linkage .

1950, Barrow with contestants
Campaigned with vigour, for the St George seat
Which he captured, the House felt his presence.

Lawyer/economist was hard to beat
His platform, for progress and for reform;
The other side of the aisle was his meat.

Veteran of WW2 did transform
The evil laws, that ruled this great island
That flowed with colonial chloroform.

The folds and wrinkles on the land he ironed
Out, left by self-serving occupiers.
From his vineyard, fruits we eat have ripened.

On his legacy we must build higher
His 21st Century leaders brighter...

© Paterika Hengreaves
January 19, 2010/Husbands, St James

The Aftermath of the Earthquake in Haiti

2010-01-17T08:07:00.000-08:00

(in Japanese Tanka)

Chinaware arrived
With haste they want to save lives
On jet from Beijing
With earthquake-relief supplies
Eight Chinese police have died

Straight queues before us
UN rules, when serving kai
Ignore them, surely we leave
Bald eagle's fast-food rains down
Manners tanked feeds starving eyes.

Commonsense applied
No horse; then you must ride cow
Jungle medicine
On bloody folks everywhere
Real doctors needed we pray.

© Paterika Hengreaves
January 14, 2010/Barbados

Observation

2010-01-09T12:11:00.000-08:00

(In Triolet)

No Cassia flowers grow there,
Even though the Drive bears its name.
Ixora and palms everywhere;
No Cassia flowers grow there.
Olive Drive sign post high in air;
Points to cul-de-sac in her frame;
No Cassia flowers grow there,
Even though the Drive bears its name.

© Paterika Hengreaves
January 9, 2010/Cassia Drive, Barbados

My Plea

2010-01-06T06:02:00.000-08:00

(In Paradelle rhyming aAbBAb aAbBcd aAbBcd aabccb)

Through meadows soft come, walk with me;
Through meadows soft come, walk with me,
Where tumble weeds explore the moor;
Where tumble weeds explore the moor.
Come walk through soft meadows with me
Where tumble weeds the moor explore.

Sing in my ear your sweet love songs;
Sing in my ear your sweet love songs.
With those notes of yore, we shall reach;
With those notes of yore, we shall reach;
We shall reach those sweet notes of yore
With your love songs, sing in my ear.

With wild flair, wayside flowers nod;
With wild flair, wayside flowers nod,
Near the croft in the open fields;
Near the croft in the open fields.
Wayside flowers nod with wild flair;
In the croft, near the open fields.

Come walk with me through meadows soft
In wild open fields near the croft,
Where tumble weeds explore the moor.
Those wayside flowers nod with flair;
With your love songs, sing in my ear.
We shall reach the sweet notes of yore.

©Paterika Hengreaves

The Story about a Grackle

2010-01-03T15:58:00.000-08:00

(Rhyming aabb in the form of the Hendianne sonnet)

(Video without Audio)

At half past nine on a bleak Monday morning,
A blackbird entered my house without warning,
Unlike a scaredy-cat in search for some food,
Was seen caught in a snare with a scary mood.
This bead-eye grackle could not find the way out
Because mirage in its eyes cut the bird's clout;
The squawking black beauty tagged the window pane;
This two-legged winged creature with a birdbrain.
So the blackbird could not find the exit route;
Kept on slamming glass-pane in frenzied pursuit;
The grackle found itself on a glassed barred cage;
Its freedom in wings it dared not disengage.
Wow! The door opened with hands it did not see;
Out flew the Bajan grackle in cherry tree.

© Paterika Hengreaves
January 3, 2010/Cassia Drive, Barbados

Just Want to Say

2009-12-31T14:06:00.000-08:00

(Rhyming abab)

The New Year is dawning on us;
Janus looks into our eyes;
Past and present we still discuss,
Yet marvel how time really flies.

Resolutions do come and go;
But wear I must, the common touch;
Know what flies on red flag doth show,
And the meaning of such-and-such;

Drop not the ball on "Golden Rule";
Going green is not an option;
Greediness always finds a mule;
Riding the poor, much too often.

Candles, smoke and those butterflies,
Are symbols on carded poem
I sent to you, I summarize:
The godliness of each totem;

Each candle light doth show the spread
Of God's love, for all of mankind;
He clears the smoke, that makes eyes red,
Answers to prayers are well defined.

Butterflies show life is fragile,
Yet beauty in life still doth dwell;
Frowns we erase with every smile;
Hope is there with the New Year's bell.

The future is in our hands,
The paths are there; tread without stealth;
To folks near and in far-off lands,
Happy New Year, peace and good health!

© Paterika Hengreaves
December 31, 2009/Cassia Drive, Barbados

The Talking Pigeon Pea

2009-12-29T05:29:00.000-08:00

(Rhyming aabb)

Would you please tell me why I have this name?
I am befuddled, but who must I blame?
You'll find me on continents and islands;
Growing in heated fields, and backyard lands;

Sustenance farming is good and is wise;
Plenty benefits look us in the eyes;
Now that jobs are scarce and are in the tank;
Go plant pigeon peas, he said point-blank.

From dried pods with six-grained pigeon peas,
In July, these seeds Pat sowed between weeds
In a hole, in the ground so I could grow,
And for three months my growth was really slow.

Grounded on ridge, at the back of her house
Far away from grazing sheep, goats and cows;
I took my place among her other trees;
My six-month green dress blows in torrid breeze.

Five fingers keep dropping stars at my feet;
Ackees split their reddish balls so discreet;
My boughs droop from pods packed like a sardine;
The light of which, you can see in between.

On sea of green, my yellow flowers sway
In clusters, seeping boughs with fragrant spray.
On Christmas Eve, Pat picked my ripened peas
With gentle hands, while ignoring the bees.

On kitchen table my green pods did rest;
She shelled each pod, with apron on her dress,
In preparation for the Christmas dish
Of green peas and rice, with turkey and fish.

© Paterika Hengreaves
December 24, 2009/Cassia Drive, Barbados

Barbados The Demise of Sam Lords Castle

2009-12-27T05:41:00.001-08:00

I once spent a fabulous weekend at the Castle. It is sad to see its death but the phoenix will rise again more beautiful than before.

Probably the ghost of Sam Lord is responsible for the destruction of the Castle. Do you suppose those treasure seekers found the hidden treasure that Sam Lord stacked away?

Click here to read poem on Sam Lord

The White House Ballad

2009-12-03T06:14:00.000-08:00

(January 2007-August 2009)

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

On Pennsylvania Avenue
This House still stands and guards
Mightily, our Supreme Laws
Those noble deck of cards.

Yea, those Founding Fathers have said
Stiff rivalry is good
For it brings out the best in US
And rips away the HOOD...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

Its Oval Office is the prize
So reds and blues compete
On backs of elephants and mules
In the snow, sleet and heat.

Now hear this too, for crying out
A black is yet to sit
In Roosevelt's chair at Maison Blanche
In dreams they never quit...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

From dreams of Martin Luther King
Obama found a cheer
For his message of "Hope and Change"
Bush years were too austere.

The Clintonnites' spars spurred him on
To fight hero McCain
Behind paling with fifty states
In an epic campaign...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

Thus the battle between these guys
Moved to the ballot field
Where voters ended the long strife
With victory concealed.

All night long folks waited to hear
The victor of the fight
So they tuned in to media
And listened on real tight...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

With bated breath they skewered their chops
A new order emerged
McCain's paling came toppling down
And his States got submerged.

Obama changed those White House locks
Unimaginable!
Blacks moved to top of totem pole
That was unthinkable!...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

The POW walked up to the lectern
So bravely with defeat
In a conciliatory tone
McCain was truly sweet.

Like California wild fires
News of Barack's win spread.
Joy drenched streets like a tsunami
And into Grant Park miles ahead...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

The Grant Park barbecue ensued
Lighted sky smiled with glee
As large and medium states flipped
In Obama's sweet tea.

His biracial clan took the stage
With him, Biden and Jill
The forty-fourth POTUS elect
Gave speech with much goodwill...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

It would be hard to overstate
How vast parts of the globe
In polls of polls favored Barack
Guantanamo he'll probe.

Self-confidence in him does dwell
Like a sun-flower's glow
He tackles economic woes
Obamanomics flow...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

Abe Lincoln's trait he holds in head
Rightly, so we do muse
His pals are close, but foes closer
To his chest, and their clues.

Bipartisan flair he rolls in
This time it so demands
Political arrogance wilts
As the U.S. changed hands...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

We know smashed glass causes splinters
And must be vacuumed clean
Snakes cloak themselves to look like saints
But they are down-right mean.

So beware of those frienemies
Barack must watch his back
His better-half is poised for that
With covert hands on tact...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

His economic team is set
Their cognitive minds slice
Pumpkin pie before Thanks Giving
For those folks without rice.

So President-elect Barack
Talked with his opened eyes
On economic ills ahead
And the way jobs must rise...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built a pretty large White House, and
The rooms are full of wit.

Into the Fall White House spring cleans
Cobwebs from ceiling walls
Rubinized vacuums must clean up
With those blackberry calls.

This recession eats our cake
So folks are crying out
No jingle bells from Santa's sleigh
Belt-way boys all about...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

Hope for the hopeless rang out true
On his first Thanksgiving
Out came his economic team
To cap wasteful spending.

Heaps of things on his must-do-list
Barack listed them all:
Greenhouse gases, wars, health and jobs
No wonder heads turned bald...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

He shared victory plate around
This pleased Latino fans
Rich piece of commerce he gave Bill
With that he showed his hands.

Confirmation hearings come next
Into his neat henhouse.
Elephants' trunks hefting the eggs
For specks which they can oust...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

Less woe past POTUS-elect had
Historians said so
Biden he'll be tested by thugs
But Gates will crush them low.

Will Barack plug their fox-holes up
So folks dignity soars?
Brain and brawn wild beasts he will tame
Will Clinton raise his scores?

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

Eco-mess birth in the nineties
Splashed valleys, sea and moor
Barack brought back used brooms and mops
To clean, past-mess on floor.

Accountability is good
And transparency too
Its democracy's freedom song
In my view, this is true...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

Look at the traits Barack displays
Throwing folks 'neath the bus
No way! Right though did show this style?
Carville likes to discuss.

Though political venom flows
From lines across the aisle
Barack sought to bridge this divide
Watch, his cabinet's eyes...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

Barack's economics will hurt
Rogueless Carib islands
In Bim we weighed ours and his
Will he revisit plans?

These Island States know of your pain
Isles of friendly allies
They stood with you through thick and thin
Thompson too, felt your vibes...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

Barack left seat on Senate floor
Those grooms and brides like it
Fat cats from opened door did eye
Tapped lines did hold the spit.

Blagojevich's hair laced the seat
His auctioneer made waves
As on his feet he hammered rod
His quid pro quo made knaves...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

His words fell from mouth full of dung
Such speech was so uncouth
Vocalised hygiene brightens teeth
Good habit for the youth.

ILLinoan needs to step down
Barack's words reached the press
Change bad-habits, yes, yes...we can
Undress, corruption’s mess…

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

While Blago faced impeachment
Bush ducked a flying shoe
Whistleblowers on Rod showed up
Bush kept home safe for true.

On what legacy will Bush rest?
Home-land security!
He took a real hard test on this
Right, in New York City…

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

Rahm has been exonerated
Barack's team is well mixed
Biden adopted middle-class
Facts and gaffes intermixed

The forty-fourth POTUS-elect
Shone inaugural ball
Warren scored a mighty touch down
Caused libs and gays to bawl...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

Great! Alexander I "believe"
Theme, mused on Barack's day
Derek Walcott’s age missed the list
Youthful Liz caught bouquet.

A nation's spirit binds the muse
Persian custom holds sway
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Quatrains, dissed USA...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

Barack left fourth of the first month
For his Capitol home
With his wife, Michelle and daughters
Blair house was over grown.

Malia, Sasha met Sidwell Friends
First daughters took their place
From Hay-Adams off Lafayette
A short stay there with grace...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

The Essence of it all lingered
Jets for Obama changed
Ebony press, and Ann Coulter's
Book on Michelle, estranged.

Reporters of color still press
No doubt, the President
On urban agendas to act
With greater precedent...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

Twists, turns and forks in Barack's path
Bill abandoned Commerce
Pay-to-play fell upon his head
And boomeranged with force.

So Barack knows something, we don't
His vetting tactic works
Spots leopards so they self-destruct
Safari moves with jerks...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House and
The rooms are full of wit.

Burris barred from the Senate Floor
Association's guilt
He pals with tainted Governor
Rightly, twice Barrack wore that quilt.

With ears, we hear Illinois' news
About the battle of the seat
That broke out in Windy City
Feinstein stirred up the heat...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built a pretty large White House, and
The rooms are full of wit.

Before Barack is President
Got tested, on all fronts
Addled eggs dropped from his henhouse
Self-serving brats played stunts.

Signs of the times in Washington
Franken caught bitter cold
Inauguration twelve days left
Coleman was digging gold...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built a pretty large White House, and
The rooms are full of wit.

Those four Past-Presidents arrived
Live, in Oval Office
They welcomed Barack to White House
World saw his smiling face.

A picture perfect for New Year
Historic facts present
Fate willed that four Past-POTUSes
Hugged first black President...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House, and
The rooms are full of wit.

Transition from Bush Era seen

Those Presidential shots
Did play out on the global stage
Bush gave Barack his thoughts.

This gesture from George Bush did show
Power shifted to Barack
In twelve days Barack was sworn in
Bailout tagged on his back…

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House, and
The rooms are full of wit.

Politics abound with scandals
Recession unearthed crooks
From left, right and centre they come
With tools they cook the books.

Roads to White House halls Barack cleans
Blagojevich impeached
Who next will have their linens wash
In swirling tide and bleach...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House, and
The rooms are full of wit.

Burris, "I knew it was legal"
I made no quid pro quo"
Fate ordains that I take his seat
To the Senate I go.

Blagojevich swims with his fish
But change must come at last
In Windy City hacks take flight
When people pray and fast...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House, and
The rooms are full of wit.

Blagojevich gave out a punch
With Tennyson I'm told
"To strive, to seek, to find...not yield"
I found a pot of gold.

Obama's flock so hard to herd
In pasture with old pots
House windows full of jealousies
Tied Obama in knots...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House, and
The rooms are full of wit.

On "New Birth of Freedom" Barack
Into Oval he railed
With Bible and Lincoln's bio
Bush's policies have failed.

Wit and inspiration he drew
From Abe his true mentor
With cloudless visions of hindsight
History holds centre…

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House, and
The rooms are full of wit.

Good karma greeted Obama
When George left White House sun
Geese down Flight 1549
No lives loss on Hudson.

One hundred and fifty-five souls
Received a miracle
On that cold, wet Hudson river
Sully ate geese pickle…

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House, and
The rooms are full of wit.

On the heels of his swearing-in
Came his proclamation
A day of renewal and of
Reconciliation.

Pakistani Christian kids
Held President's portrait
At Islamabad's Global Peace
Heaps entrails on his plate...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House, and
The rooms are full of wit.

The forty-fourth President sits
Recession bends his back
As nation prays for his success
Limbaugh said ‘none of that’.

Broken faucets he saw in House
He cannot sleep or rest
Hopefully, he used wrenches
But Rush was not impressed…

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House, and
The rooms are full of wit.

Nine days in his office, Barack's
Lilly white led corsage
He gave to better all females
His unbiased massage.

As Barack ate pickled goulash
And hot pork sandwiches
His frienemies held tea-parties
To brag and bag riches...

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House, and
The rooms are full of wit.

One hundred days Dems still in House
Barack is President
This muse in news heard breaking news
Pirate sharks persistent...

Somali sharks are not after
The El Dorado gold
That once was the 'ole sea dogs' quest
Snatching black souls, they sold.

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House, and
The rooms are full of wit.

The ghosts of piracy of yore
Plied each Atlantic-Carib land
In so many minds they still live
Barack's hands must them can…

But in spite of ill-winds on US
From US, the world learns much
Truthful lips on this still agree
Sharks dread Navy Seals' touch.

On the land that Vespucci named
Founding Fathers on it
Built, a pretty large White House, and
The rooms are full of wit.