Peggy Carr is a Vincentian mother/poet/media worker/author who lives and works in Taipei, Taiwan.

The general concept here is that an ancestor comes back from the past and laments the loss of cultural traditions and values in the Caribbean. The "jumbie" pleads for a return to good old Caribbean roots and values.


LONG TALK
(from a Vincy jumbie)
By Peggy Carr

Tonight ah come fuh rescue me culture
from all dem alien vulture
fuh tek back we Caribbean
in de name of Vincyland
fuh find de rhythm of conga and steel
and mek dem pulse in a way dat you could feel

Tonight ah come fuh uplift colour
and give it dignity
reverse yo concept ah beauty
built on classic European style
show you dat Afro-Indo-Carib
sweeter by a mile

Tonight ah come fuh sing
de virtues of dis land
e ability fuh mek e people strong
fuh tell you dat nutten wrong
wid green banana and
coconut water
dat fresh fish beat frozen chicken
any time
and you could mek good good juice
wid lime

Tonight ah come fuh warn you
dat a home is not
a mansion of concrete
and stone
wid plenty room and
shiny furniture
dat nah wan home
not inna my picture
In a truly strong structure
pickney ah know dem puppa
are cherished
not banished
by dem mumma
there is respect and honor
for grandpa and grandma
and love live under dem shelter
even when no corn dey in de mortar

Tonight ah going whisper
and hope you go hear
ah secret dem who gone on
want me fuh share
Yo home ah de cradle
ah yo culture
Way yo nourish dey
ah way go come big later

Tonight ah come fuh freeze
foreign penetration
de invasion of lifestyles harmful
to we nation
fuh bruck dat tough jawbone
ah violence
and plug de leak
ah normal commonsense

Tonight me ah wind
and rain
me ah hurricane
flattening Americanism
ripping up materialism
exposing dem values
so shallow and thin
smashing de hundred ah mirror
dat muliply we colour
mimicking white culture

Ah come fuh challenge you tonight
fuh conquer de might
ah dat innocent TV screen
wid e own agenda
e dangerous scheme
Turn it round
mek it wuk fuh our side
fill it wid picture of sound morals
and national pride

Tonight ah come fuh ask you
fuh think
fuh plan
embrace simple sincerity again
in dis land
Tonight ah invite you fuh rise up wid me
determined and strong
and reclaim we culture
we Caribbean.



          (Asheen Richards, performing "LONG TALK" at "Caribbean Callaloo 2" in Taipei, Taiwan)


Click here for a video clip of Asheen's peformance