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| Photo from the T&T Guardian |
Ah hear a madman bawl as he spread out on a wall
He say, “Dis is it, dis is it, dis is it, I’ve been hit!
No time to give up brother, no time to quit!”
Was the chant of a madman, in this tale from a strange land
Give me the chant of de madman. It’s the only salvation
Ah say de chant of a madman, in this tale from a strange land
Give me the chant of the madman, Lord, is de only salvation.
—– “Tales from a Strange Land: Crossing the Bridge, A Madman’s Rant”David Rudder, 1996
i always remember hearing a friend say at a discussion forum about race once that conversations on the topic went like this “we (black people) scream and we scream and nobody hears”
the other day i was at the KFC on the corner of frederick st and independence square in port-of-spain when a “madwoman” came in. she was screaming and nobody heard her.
“where mih chile? ah want mih damn chile!” she targeted one of the workers. rang his ears. pushed him a few times. followed him behind the counter. then the security guards made her leave.
but she came back. something about the way she walked. her frequent fidgety movements. constant in and out of the restaurant. pelting and stamping on her own belongings at one point. there was sinister laughter from some people there. she was cursing at the man and at the people watching, cackling. talking about the years he spent beating her. his co-workers mused on the incident. “you think i would’ve take that ring ears in public?” and “wham to she boy?”
maybe she was smoking dope, or was an attention seeker/bacchanal maker, maybe he really used to beat her so bad she couldn’t think straight anymore, maybe she finally retaliated. what about the child she was asking him for? whatever the case this woman had some probably unfortunate story and nobody could hear her screaming even as she was physically screaming in a public place.
she got into an altercation outside the KFC afterwards. she started it with the wrong person who coolly beat her up. then she ranaway. maybe the police found her and she’s in jail or maybe she’s screaming in some other part of the island to no avail.
Zahra Gordon 
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