I Write So You Know

(In Quintet)

Yes, he came with anticipation glee,
And my profile matches his yearning plea;
For love wrapped up somewhere in Tennessee;
In the packaged smile and mail he sent me;This flicker of hope surely holds the key.

So I’m hooked my heart spins on a platter;
Like bees to honey and birdies’ chatter;
Those messages posted really matter;
Signalled my heart to go pitter patter;I searched relentlessly for the attar.

Love dust shines with great hospitality;
It comes to heart with much formality;
Could this dreaming be my reality!
Roses received brought much vitality;And the written words, the totality.

Reflected thoughts from looking gems convey,
Messages of love that grows every day;
Reaches me as I stand here on the bay;
So come to me sweet one without delay,On the wings of love there is where we stay.

On this bough I’ll hang around in this heat,
And take lots of pictures for you to greet;
As I savor the moments when we meet;
I can’t stop this feeling of so upbeat;
In this dream, we go strolling down the street.

©Paterika Hengreaves
July 2003/Barbados

The Barrow that Built a Nation

(In Heroic or Elegiac Quatrains rhyming abab)





















My favourite heroes are these in Bim
In this order I dare proclaim to you
Errol Barrow and Sobers full of vim
Adams and the rest I think of them too.

The tools of heroes did build this island
Barrow's wheels were on every building site
His moving shafts scraped the dirt from this land
His deep throated speeches caught them with spright...

Into new Barbados I proudly stand
Wherein I clutch his mirror image bag
With pride and industry ever so grand
I pledge allegiance to the Trident flag.

In real time I've seen Barrow with my eyes
I was a young rural St. Lucy gal
In this parish lies his family ties
Of his cousins one was my next door pal.

Dad lived an arm's length from his childhood home
Of Barrow he talked with a joyful tone
The common folks he gave his brand new comb
From fork and hoe...he brought them telephone...

Into new Barbados I proudly stand
Wherein I clutch his mirror image bag
With pride and industry ever so grand
I pledge allegiance to the Trident flag.

Barrow used good tools for nation building
His moves on them were witty and real fast
Over rough terrain he kept them rolling
On a path of self-reliance at last.









No doubt, I trust 'an errol' in my purse
Barclays can keep the pounds, shillings and pence
Credit cards or ponzi schemes make heads curse
"Champagne taste...mauby pockets" is pretense.

Into a new Barbados I proudly stand
Wherein I clutch his mirror image bag
With pride and industry ever so grand
I pledge allegiance to the Trident flag.

In a memorable song John King sings
"All hands on deck give the Skipper respect"
His social-justice soars on eagle's wings
Independence for us gives self-respect.

Barrow left us a profound legacy
He gave free education with hot lunch
His mirror image we reflect and see
Father of the Nation kept common touch...

Into new Barbados I proudly stand
Wherein I clutch his mirror image bag
With pride and industry ever so grand
I pledge allegiance to the Trident flag.

© Paterika Hengreaves
January 2009/Barbados