The Land, the People and the Bottle by Stephen A. Dantes

The Land, the People and the Bottle

Boy you see dat rum ting
Me nah go ever andustan dat
How de gov’ment say is over eighteen
But school girl and boy drinkin ‘Black’

Dey say de rum kill off brain cells
And de rum eh good for likkle chil’ren
Dey say dat no school chile must drink
Or de police can arress dem

But garcon is when de weekend fette come to see
Even police drinkin wit dem likkle boys
And friend, eh noffing soft uh
Is Hennessy, Brandy, Piton, Crystal and Hienee

De line between man and boy, girl and woman eh dere again
Once de bottle in de hand and you hole anoda in a grine
You is top ting in a session with chaser Train

Cause rum drinkin ting is ritual at Lucian session
Wheda you ‘teen’ or ‘ty’ it doh matter
A bottle in your hand is a medal of honor
‘Chiwé de book sang’ wif ‘stick of cancer’

An de ting dat does hurt me
Is when dem people come on my tv talkin mashee
De sey how school chil’ren mus not drink alcohol
And deh mus not smoke

But is de same grownups sellin de rum to all ah we
Teenage delight is ‘Rum an Coke’
Wif Lucian spirit, ‘Bounty’

Ya’ll know what I talkin about ee
Doh act like I makin dem tings up
Cause you know we start drinkin from time we small
And noffing for dat or no-one to stop

Even mothers and fathers buyin rum for dere chile party
First communion and confirmation is boss for dat
And doh talk about de songs you does hear
Chifonnen pwel and dem tings ee

But wha dat burning me more is de school chil’ren
You know is trouble dey does give on Monday morning
After de alcohol wear off
Is hard-head learnin

Yet de teachers have to bring back all dem dead brain cells
With no help from police or gov’ment
No mudda or fadda to explain
3 times X or Y plus Y
But a buncha mouths to complain
When all dey chil’ren fail

So de society make it aready for dem likkle yutes eh
Like drink your drink and we go protect you
Just join da system and follow through
Noffing and no-one will stop you
Drink your rum an enjoy yourself

Nobody seeing dat all dem chil’ren need some help
But dey always seeing who not doing dere job

Dat system we living in I tell you
Dat me cyan andustan, choops
Dat more backwards dan 3rd-World ee
Dat so backward it do a backward of a backward to become a forward

But who is me to talk bout dem tings
The land fulla intelligent mature people dat love da bottle
And blinded by the light from 79
Half a de young people going off
And da ole ones drink to dat

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SOME OF YOUR COMMENTS

BycleGale (June 30th 2010): very interesting, thanks

Alvinus (May 26th 2010): Great stuff!

Waynella Dantes (May 2nd 2010): From ur mouth to society ears.....serious stuff being swept under the rug.....but great job...keep it up n God bless! I'm really proud of u

Lisa (April 20th 2010): Dantes, you made my day. I could not stop laughing. Thats one of your best and so true. Keep up the good work, keep putting a smile on my face. lol

Donalie Charlemagne (April 4th 2010): wen de drinkin started it was just a spec
Now de yute Dem have No Respek!
Great piece Mr Dantes. This is what it really is...unfortunately!

Donathan Leon (April 2nd 2010): Yea, that's how it is them days. You can't control them. And it's gonna get worse. Nice poem men.

Lindon Stephen (March 31st 2010): gud one son, u kno dats Darban theme ryt? drink a ting.

Anyha Carasco (March 31st 2010): nice work..beautifully written..something we can relate to.

Mario Charlery (March 31st 2010): That is some excellent stuuff deh. I would definitly give it two thumbs up.

Shem Glasgow (March 30th 2010): I love the dialogue man. interesting stuff. you should have a lyric cafe moment all to yourself. great work.

Tiffany Stephen (March 30th 2010): The name alone makes it worth reading. I liked it. I liked it alot. I have been preaching the same thing, but everyone just laughs. I'm glad you wrote about it and so very creatively. Good job.

Michelle Mclean-James (March 30th 2010): "This is really an interesting piece of writing. Your message is so true. Keep up the good work"

Becky (March 30th 2010): I like this one...keep it up...tell it how it is...lucian culture broken down for you...rum,rum and more rum...its a shame...

Marrile Parsade (March 30th 2010): Well I would rate this poem as eight out of a ten scale whereas it is the root of the culture depicting what our society is made up of now. Your career in poetry is going quite well. keep up the good work. I did literature at school. It is quite a complex subject that helps you analyze things very much in depth. Good Work Mr. Stevens!!!

Clea St. Jean (March 30th 2010): I love it.. Very true by the way..

Beatrice Burin (March 30th 2010): hey thanks for coming back for us fans cause serious i have not read anything from you and not like it. this one though is one of my favorites cause serious ting when all them in the session age dont matter. when first communion or confirmation they self telling you look a little ting nothing go happen to you cause you saved now. lol. thank you so much for your work. keep it up man. all the best

Barbz Togz (March 30th 2010): love the way you describe society in St. Lucia. them blaming everybody else but themselves, underage drinking is one of the biggest probs in my community in St. Lucia, keep up the lovely poems

Bredan Mitcel (March 30th 2010): Its so true you know. Sad to say, but dats how it is. Poor lil Lucia . I guess it eh go change if we eh start sum ware. Is we dat have to start with our kids in order to try n break the cycle, or else tings go never change.

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