THE ISLAND OF ST. CLAIRE:
       A WEST INDIAN TRIPTYCH

                           I

             Marcus Williams


"The Empire ended when the sunset gun
Went off, the flag came down, the troops went home.
Although it didn't last as long as Rome,
Three centuries, these days, is quite a run.

Our former overlords are having fun
Down on the beaches, and they also have
Investments still. While nobody's a slave,
They're used to service for their money, mon.

This island needs hard currency, you know.
True independence? Something we can't afford
As yet. Development is pretty slow.

They say the pound is mightier than the sword.
The dollar too. With nowhere else to go,
We have to serve, obedient and bored."


                           II

             Dave MacLachlan


"This is my third vacation in St. Claire.
Believe me, you don't want to be in Toronto
Over the Christmas holidays: you want to
Escape, and those who can, take to the air.

When I look down and see Mount Soufrière
Beneath me, raising up its rocky head
On shoulders that are thickly forested,
No sight on earth, I think, could be more fair.

The people here are friendly too--my God!
After the sour faces that you see
Back home! It isn't really very odd

That St. Claire is the place I'd rather be.
I swear, some day, after I've made a wad,
I'll quit: then it's the island life for me!"


                           III

             Michael Rodriguez


"The airport? Let me help you with those cases.
You liked St. Claire? It's beautiful but shabby.
Surprised to get an educated cabby?
I used to be a teacher, I've been places.

We need a revolution. The disgrace is,
The Yanks would call their president a wimp
And, just to prove to them his dick's not limp,
He'd send in the Marines with blackened faces.

I lost my teaching post over Granada
For questioning exactly by what right
The U.S. intervened. My bosses had a

Fit, then they sacked me. But I'm sitting tight.
This is my home, the isla coronada,
Crowned island, Spaniards called it. When's your flight?"

 

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