Commissioner Farquharson
for Elaine Ferguson

what country are they from
this force of police officers
articulate as brook water

commenting upon the influence
of Commissioner Farquharson
upon their careers, upon their lives

my mouth open in awe
all these hours after

open in disbelief
that these men, these women
of our police force
have such vocabularies

able to make sentences
like pearl necklaces

what integrity, what individuality
what leadership and what freedom

I thought them trapped
intellectually, as if muscle-bound
sluggish

but this treat of words, of ideas
unexpected, surprising to me
delightful, promising

who and what, I’m left to wonder
have they been reading

or is their ability to express themselves
exclusively the result
of having to render in writing
every complaint

every crime conveyed in words
and signed

I’d assumed this exercise
a waste of time

look at what a mess
they make of language,
I’d think of what they’d put down

my own words and thoughts
no longer mine
reports I’d have been asked to sign

but that that effort adds up
has added up to this

to remarks, to comments
I’ve heard articulated

to Elaine, the nation, the world
about Paul Farquharson,

is no less than impressive
and to be cherished

how much more proud I am
to be Bahamian

I thought they were just bullies
thought they knew just cuss words

knew only how to push us around
not words and thoughts

the strings of these, they can pull
skillfully enough
to make puppets dance

maybe I have not after all
been writing in vain

I am after all not as alone
as I imagined

Marion, Ian, Patti, Helen, Keith and I
not the only ones who love words

as much as lollipops


© Obediah Michael Smith, 2009
5:50 a.m. 21.01.02