Caught in the trade winds

THE EDITOR: Years ago an American female artiste Roberta Flack sang the song entitled “Trade Winds.” Little did we know she was referring to us in Trinidad and Tobago. The irony is that the trade winds affect our shores. Some of us will remember the lyrics of this classic number. For those who never heard the song, this is how it begins.

‘Here I stand looking, looking around me;’
While around me, what do I see?’
Hatred and jealousy, behind a painted smile;
Heartache and loneliness dressed up in modern style.
Good people turning bad;
Some don’t but they are few.
The winds are blowing,
The choice is all up to you.
We’re caught in the Trade Winds,
The Trade Winds of our time.

What powerful lyrics! What sober truth! Flack also sang about “young girls becoming — street-walkers in the night and young boys restlessly looking for a fight.” Her rendition is so pertinent, given what occurs now in Trinidad and Tobago. Our country is bedevilled with crime. For the month of January 2004, 22 persons have perished at the hands of murderers. Kidnappings are wreaking havoc in our land. Kidnappings are now dancing in calypso. ‘And we laughing!’ Yes the winds are blowing. “Children of rich and poor, they are searching for the truth. If they don’t find it, God help tomorrow’s youth.” Let’s turn the trade winds Roberta Flack sang about into gentle gales that caress our shores. Let’s put Flack’s hit on the back burner and sing the words in our own song with pride and with conviction. “Here every creed and race finds an equal place and may God bless our nation.” Please let love reign in our land.

KEITH VALLEY
Cunupia