Inside the Mind of an Island

Inside the Mind of an Island

Battles are fought

And won

Or lost

In the mind.

In my mind

And for my people

The struggle is real.

The epic battle within 

Good vs. The Greater Good

Manifested daily

Demonstrated mainly

In the choices we make.

The actions we do 

And do not take.

Here is the environment

In which I must exist

In whose surroundings I must

Live and breathe

If at all I can.

Encumbered by fumes of waste

Incompetence

Corruption.

Here is my environment

That component of

My and my people's element 

With which we must be content

Before we even talk about Development.

Some days we take one step forward

The next, three steps back

And back to the drawing board

Or some other board

Chaired by one of two or three.

Apparently, the pool is limited

But always big enough to form

A committee.

Some days we go around in circles

Dancing to the beat of

A different kettle of fish

Nothing but red herrings

It is futile to simply wish

It all away.

To reboot

Restart

Unbreak my island heart.

My past.

My future.

My present.

This present is no gift

This present is well tense.

No recompense is near 

For those who work hard

And grin and bear

It.

The birth of a nation

What a lovely idea.

Forefathers and foremothers

And foresisters and forebrothers

Had my interest at heart.

For the most part.

Now my people scheme 

To live the American dream.

Can I blame them?

I see them leaving

Left, right and centre

Let them go.

I cannot contain them

Little hope in the Vision.

Reality is a nightmare

On every street.

Years of mismanagement

I keep giving my leaders a bly.

I tell myself it's not easy

And they do try.

Over time, it gets easier

To believe the lie.

When they take my name to foreign

In North America and Europe

I'm presented as a lady 

Assuring all who will hear

Of my paradisiacal climes and beaches and wares.

Really, Massa, we just need a gift or two

When we get back, we'll know what to do.

They try to win the confidence

Of lenders and investors who

In their right minds would agree

That something's awry

And the people aren't free.

They're enslaved in a thinking

That handouts are better

And the love of a leader

Is the thing that matters

That goods from foreign

And such accouterments

Are indisputable signs of development.

How can they not make a killing

From people who are willing

To take loans for entertainment?

Either a cruel joke or

Human experiment.

Who is sitting aside to track it?

Caviar taste

Tin mackerel pocket.

So, foreign lenders lend

Foreign investors invest

And bet.

But they ensure theirs is a winning hand

No way will they lose

And my people must understand

That promises made must be promises kept

So, investors get two or more islands for the price of one.

Back at home 

In the not so comfortable zone

The bed that has been years in the making

Is there, ready and waiting.

I know what to do

Lie prostrate and spread 'em

There's no fight left to fight 'em.

Politicians come and go

Room for rent they apply within

When one set runs out

The other runs in.

This environment is a mess

Leaders – some thirty years in – still clueless

Where are the leaders, we ask

Who are willing to walk the talk?

To usher us into the 2030 space

At a more efficient pace?

Do we have to make a choice

Between a welcome environment and

Development?

It’s food for thought

But let me get past

Today’s headline horror

I’ll think about that question...

Tomorrow.

Claudia

www.cyopro.com

www.twitter.com/cyopro

Writing For A Cause

There must be many, many people all over the world who have experienced some feeling of strong emotion and simply wanted to shout what they were feeling from a roof top. Many. To be more accurate, I'd dare say, most. And, that emotional feeling may range anywhere from getting a fantastic end-of-year school report to being wronged by a conniving co-worker (worse, boss). It may have come from having your heart broken by the love of your life and you wanted to let everyone - including his mother - know that the things he told them about you in the end that made you seem all crazy and clingy were not true and you just want to set the record straight because he must have left out the part where he... Oh! Umm, I digress.

Ahh, yes. That elusive roof top. Until now! For, behold, dear reader, Social Media.

As I thought about the series of posts for this month (don't hold me to it; sometimes it pops into my head as a series and sometimes it doesn't), I imagined that there was room for a three-fer: making your mark on life through postings/writings; how social media is that roof top from which we shout and scream and show off and gwaan bad / get on bad, and, finally, how there are those among us who write for a cause - whether political, educational, inspirational, etc.

As I pondered "Social Media As Roof Top", however...wait. Look at that. SMART. Sheer buck-up. And, oh the irony. Anyway, I couldn't help but think how neatly it fit. I don't think I have to expound on the idea. Once you make the link, you'll get it. All that's needed is to make sure that the person or persons you'd like to shout at (not to be confused with giving a shout out to) are no more than, say, two degrees of separation. And, nothing shouts "disclaimer" like a subtext/subtweet or two.

So, without the need to carry on with that point and beat the dead horse to glue, I'm moving to that last bit - and save the next post for something related.

Many write for any of the afore-mentioned (or other) causes. Of course, there's no way I get to read all these blogs. But, now and again, whether because of my job or someone sends me a link or something pops up on my Twitter timeline or the al-things-to-all-people Yahoo!, I get wind of some pretty interesting and insightful material. Remember the quote attributed to Plato? "Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something." Yeah, it's like that. The dedication and thought applied is evident in these writing. It is clear that these folks are here to help; to make you think; to inspire; to encourage and so on. What usually happens is that once you start tuning in to a particular blogger, you tend to look forward to his/her material. And, that's another aspect of that conscious writing - the discipline to keep at it. Of course, life happens. But, generally speaking, they can be relied upon for some good work.

(I got wind from @MizDurie - whose politically provocative blog is at www.facebook.com/ThinkJamaica - that May 23, (Labour Day in Jamaica), will be recognized by many Jamaican bloggers and social media peeps as Jamaica Blog Day - Blog Action Day. According to @JaBlogDay, it will be "focused on police and security forces abuse in Ja."  For the post on the 28th, I hope to provide links to those bloggers who participated in the event.)

Shout out to all you bloggers who do good work! We're learning from you. I'm learning from you. For all you've done so far, thank you.



Claudia
www.cyopro.com
www.twitter.com/cyopro