AFTER NORMALCY, THEN WHAT?
After every disaster, however painful,
Normalcy slowly, but surely returns,
Bringing a sense of relief from abnormal conditions.
Here, in our treasured island, we see these signs.
Nature has given us a blanket of green
Across the length and breadth of the island.
Hotels, guesthouses and homes are repairing,
Electricity is returning, businesses are recovering,
And people are exchanging friendly greetings.
But what about tomorrow? What about the future?
Will we soon forget our struggle together
Through the ravages of Hurricane Irma?
Will the goodwill which we now cherish
Be lost in a sea of greed and malice?
Will our preoccupation with self-interest
Become the “be all”, and “end all”
Of our communal relationships?
Will resiliency, a characteristic of our people,
Be lost as we struggle for survival?
Will political posturing make us less civil
As we relate daily to other people?
The choice is ours to make: live in harmony,
And thereby build a better and stronger community, Or, let the trio of evils: hate, greed and malice,
So dominate, that we lose our sense of purpose.
Rev. Dr. Wycherley Gumbs
(All Rights Reserved)
Diabetes
I have diabetes but don’t call me a diabetic.
And yes my lifestyle may be a tad bit difficult but no it’s not hectic.
No it’s not tragic and no it’s not a pain.
But yes it’s something I’d have to maintain.
It comes with its pros and it comes with the cons
but why is it the negative we always look upon?
Why talk about the pricks in my skin
and stuff of that sort
when we could talk about the pricks
and we know them – the self-certified endocrinologists -that talk and talk.
Oh you must eat this and oh you must eat that?
And their justification?
It was a link on FB it must be a fact!
All diabetics are not textbook cases
we are people and our front page is our faces.
I’m a type-one-der-ful person you see
but try don’t irritate me
I deal with enough pricks already.
And oh yes sometimes my injections hurt
but when it’s either do or die
you know what comes first.
And don’t offer me your treat
just because it’s sugar free
because when my sugar is well I’m treated with ice cream.
The average person thinks just because my pancreas is dead
my tastebuds are as well.
Let me give you a inside secret,
some of these diabetic snacks are disgusting and lame
so don’t ever disrespect me again.
Nothing sweeter – than me of course – that when my mother says do your chores,
in the blink of an eye guess who’s sugar is the opposite of a high?
You think there’s no positivity and you think it’s not fine
but guess who they letting skip in the food line.
So you see this parting gift to me isn’t a pain.
A lifestyle that a box juice can save my life on many occasions again and again
and this doesn’t make my life a wasted one.
I simply just treat it
and I just try to beat it
because what can I do about it
other than to accept it.
By: Lynnicia Frederick
