By Tony Deyal
They called him “Scrunter” and it was a joke because he was neither a struggler or hard-up Trini. He is one of the greatest Calypsonians of all time. In 2009, he came up with a calypso by the great Professor and musician, Art De Coteau, called “Woman On The Bass.” In fact, Scrunter begged all of us to, “Give me the woman on the bass…” For most people, especially in the Caribbean, the “bass” referees to the female body shape and size. But not in this column. Women are the powerhouses of the vocal world. They are “Full and Rich” and their bass voices have a robust quality, often described as velvet. Not just the singers, but also the writers.
Louise Bennett-Coverley, known to many as Miss Lou, was a Jamaican actress, poet, folklorist, writer, and educator. From my early days working for regional organisations in the Caribbean, I met, loved, listened. and even joked with her. As a reader and journalist of sorts, I had a lot to learn from her. She, T.S. Eliot (the American Poet), and John Betjeman the poet laurate of the United Kingdom, demonstrated that humour has a special role when seeking to convey heartfelt, honest emotion and experiences. In her case, Miss Lou played a significant role in legitimizing Jamaica Patois as a rich and time-speeded vehicle for literary exploration and expression. Here are some of her best.
“Teck king-teet kibba heart bun” meaning “Take smiles to cover heart burn.” In other words, even if you are in hard times, still keep on smiling. Here is another one I love- “Dark night got penny-wally”. It means, “Even dark nights have fireflies!” or, in other words, even when things seem hopeless there will always be a silver lining. Given how much money we now must spend to go to England or, even worse, the US, here is one that we can learn from “Nu care how long hog try fi hide undah sheep wool him grunt always betray him.”
So, regardless of who they are, or where they’re from, “It doesn’t matter how long a pig tries to hide under the wool of a sheep, his grunt will always ruin his disguise.” Miss Lou is certain, “You can try but you will get caught!” Here is another one to watch- “Annu evry keen teet a laugh” or “Not every grin is a laugh.” It means, as we eventually know from our own experiences, that not every grin is a laugh and not everyone who appears friendly to you is truly your friend. And if you don’t like Miss Lou’s work, remember, “Pit inna the sky, it fall inna yuh y’ere.” If you spit into the sky, it falls into your eye.
Fortunately, our second writer does not fall into our eyes but deep into our hearts. Jean Rhys was born in Dominica and from age 16 lived mainly in England. She was best known for her novel Wide Sargasso Sea (1966), which was before Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. As Jean Rhys said, “You can pretend for a long time, but one day it all falls away and you are alone. We are alone in the most beautiful place in the world…” Interestingly, Jean Rhys, was very different in time, place, and space from Miss Lou yet Ms. Rhys died in 1979 at the age of 88, and Miss Lou in 2002 at the age of 86. Maybe there is something in being writers in literature since, for instance, I will be 80 in less than a month.
However, we all have our “core” or the tough central part of various fruits, containing the seeds. In the case of Jean Rhys, she made it clear, “I would never be part of anything. I would never really belong anywhere, and I knew it, and all my life would be the same, trying to belong, and failing. Always something would go wrong. I am a stranger, and I always will be, and after all I didn’t really care.”
As a writer, Rhys started with something coming from her heart into her throat and then into her eyes. However, in her case, only the magic and the dream were true- all the rest were lies. In fact, she made it clear, “My life, which seems so simple and monotonous, is really a complicated affair of cafés where they like me and cafés where they don’t, streets that are friendly, streets that aren’t, rooms where I might be happy, rooms where I shall never be, looking-glasses I look nice in, looking glasses I don’t, dressed that will be lucky, dresses that won’t, and so on.” She, like me and many other writers, said, “I am the only real truth I know.”
As I head into our third writer, Celeste Mohammed from Trinidad, I remembered what Jean Rhys said, “Sometimes the Earth trembles; sometimes you can feel it breathe.” With this writer, Celest Mohammed, despite being a lawyer since 2001, she was telling stories all her life. She explained, “I’ve always wanted to be a writer. As early as seven or eight years old, I felt the pull of storytelling, the magic of shaping words into something.” However, even though she had first become a lawyer, Celeste Mohammed felt something was missing in her life, so she moved out and on. As she said, “One day, after yet another futile meeting, I walked into my office, sat down, and wrote my resignation letter.” From the beginning, as a writer, Celest Mohammed mixed the hardcore of the story to the humour.
For example, in her first “leap of faith,” Pleasantview, Celeste Mohammed did the mix in, “She gripped the burglar bars, stretching onto tiptoes to unlatch the window so she could macco next door, into the rumshop yard where the wake had already started.” That is true Trini for the entire World Bank.
Here’s another, “…bathing with blue laundry soap, pinning blue cloth to her bosom- but nothing had helped.” And again, the real Trini thing- “Mamacita, take a walk inside! Take a walk inside!” They are accustomed to seeing “Vennies” scurrying around the back streets- to them, every Latina is a Venezuelan whore- so they take her money and ask no questions.”
And, best of all – “All you need is a sip of this babash, girl,” Winston said, waving the bottle. “My cousin-and-them make this down Moruga. It go burn out any problem you have inside you.”
And outside too, with our three women on the race, pace, and base!
*Tony Deyal was last closing with Miss Lou, “And remember, walk good!”
