Dear Editor,
A tribute to an academic who dared to cahallenge the dictatorship of Burnham.
“A Fallen Feather”
A moment to reflect
On the wounds that they inflict.
What a deflect,
In a time of conflict.
The anticipated WAR was to declare,
Walter Anthony Rodney was very clear.
Few were they to compare,
Burnham knew, those had no fear.
It was a time when the Kabaka ruled,
People and policy clashed in turmoil.
Names and places, they were all scheduled,
The X-13 plan made many uneasy to recoil.
Mass migration was the key to survival.
Guyanese became wary but not complacent,
Seeking greener pastures, in the dark was any arrival.
Jagan’s power was let loose in the wilderness,
A voice lost in a blistering desert.
The unions were reduced in finesse,
A bleeding gap to plug, Rodney tried to insert.
The armed forces bowed not out of respect,
All and sundry had much to fathom and fear.
The PNC’s party card carried much prospect,
A uniform without pride, many had to wear.
A meal a day became a struggle,
Essential food items were banned and became scarce.
What and when to eat, in Guyana many had to juggle,
While politicians and politics remain a farce!
Dr. Rodney attempted to head the suppressed class,
Surrounded by brothers and sisters he grew to trust.
Deceits and dishonesty they threw him in an abyss,
13th June, 1980, he was blown to rust with the dust!
Jai Lall