Trinidad and Tobago Why You Treating Your People So

I jumped on a plane to go to visit T&T.
Could not wait to walk the streets

First stop was Belmont, where I was born
I hesitated, because people say too much crime in that town

I decided to view some scenes from a maxi taxi
What I saw had me very sad indeed
Not much was changed structurally
Same old houses in need of much TLC

The roads and pavements had so many pot holes
Someone could break some body parts or loose some shoe soles

Most of the street signs were erased
Some were even pointing the opposite way!

The smell of pee stung my nose
Vagrants sleeping on cardboard
Some made their homes in any hole

I went o the market place and saw meat, fish and chicken sitting or hanging from poles
Not fit for human consumption, forming bacteria, a scent of rotten meat hit my nose!

Vendors blasting music from their black market cds calling out come and buy honey!
People buying cds and dvds not caring for the artist’s money

No room to walk on pavements so slanted I thought I was falling off ! What a travesty!
A few times my heel got caught in a hole, so I stepped down to walk in the street
Forgetting I had to judge the distance between pavement and street.
Too many times I jerked my knees!

Getting into a maxi taxi was a particular feat
I had to bend my body and constrict my knees
When my stop came, my body was cramped
I could hardly walk because my foot fell asleep

As I tried to crawl out of the maxi I had to step over bodies with a precision that was very neat
I did not want to get cussed out by anybody

Forget air condition that’s not for maxis
I tried to tell myself that sweating is good for weight loss, so no air conditioned maxis is good for me

Next, I went to the Calypso tents
Now there I found many Calypsoes with great content

Some were poetry in sweet prose’
Some were prophetic messages sent down to give some manner of hope
Some yet again, will cause an individual to move their bodies in vulgarity and seek out dope

As I sat in the tents I felt at home looking at the sea of people from all ethnic race
I thought why the Calypsonians have to put on the shows in that moldy old place

I thought they are the ones people are coming to hear in T&T
They are the ones that boost the economy
They should be getting the royal treatment and paid very highly!

My next stop was the pan yards to listen to the latest pan tune
Here again, I am thinking why is it they do not have their own buildings to practice in?
Where is the money they are generating?

Such diligence when every night off to the pan yard they go practicing
They should be paid just for showing
Here is another revenue making

T&T your people are not treated fairly
These are just some of the many things I saw going wrong in this country
People are just not being treated and cared for adequately

There is a lake of pitch please use it to fix your pavements and roads
Give the people work and lighten the crime load

Remember people perish without a vision in sight
Lift the heavy clouds of darkness over this country and bring in some light
Stop the murders, stealing, struggles and strife

Next time I return to T&T
I pray that I will see some recommended changes in this sweet country
This land that boasts of unity and liberty

Written by: Marcia Balthazar
2/29/2010