To ask how I feel about writing is to ask how I feel about breathing.”
― Shakirah Bourne, In Time of Need

“Take me to that island where people celebrate in the streets in August, -No Titles Required!
Take me to Barbados..246”
― Charmaine J. Forde

“RIH, we love you, Rih we are proud of you- Many go away and forget their roots- But you are not one of them at all-Every Crop over, you return to the island to fete-And meet up with fans you haven’t already met.
You travel the world-representing your country-Putting 246 down in
World History…”
― Charmaine J.Forde

“I miss being in Barbados in December,
That is a time I always remember,
The smell of varnish on the wooden floors,
And the smell of paint on the wooden doors
The crowds in de Supermarket,
Buying up the rum,
And the music blasting
Puh rup a pum pum”
― Charmaine J Forde

Austin Clarke
“And immediately we rushed like horses, wild with the knowledge of this song, and bolted into a startingly loud harmony:
‘Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves; Britons, never-never-ne-verr shall be slaves!’
and singing, I saw the kings and the queens in the room with us, laughing in a funny way, and smiling and happy with us. The headmaster was soaked in glee. And I imagined all the glories of Britannia, who, or what or which, had brought us out of the ships crossing over from the terrible seas from Africa, and had placed us on this island, and had given us such good headmasters and assistant masters, and such a nice vicar to teach us how to pray to God – and he had come from England; and such nice white people who lived on the island with us, and who gave us jobs watering their gardens and taking out their garbage, most of which we found delicious enough to eat…all through the ages, all through the years of history; from the Tudors on the wall, down through the Stuarts also on the wall, all through the Elizabethans and including those men and women singing in their hearts with us, hanging dead and distant on our schoolroom walls; Britannia, who, or what or which, had ruled the waves all these hundreds of years, all these thousands and millions of years, and kept us on the island, happy – the island of Barbados (Britannia the Second), free from all invasions. Not even the mighty Germans; not even the Russians whom our headmaster said were dressed in red, had dared to come within submarine distance of our island! Britannia who saw to it that all Britons (we on the island were, beyond doubt, little black Britons, just like the white big Britons up in Britannialand. The headmaster told us so!) – never-never-ne-verr, shall be slaves!”
― Austin Clarke, Amongst Thistles and Thorns

“Bajan Pride

Barbadians should be proud of Rih,
Thanks to Evan Rogers and Jay-Z,
At only twenty eight,
Rih’s at the top of her game,
And it’s seems like Robyn Rihanna,
Is still the same,
Same friends,
Same personality,
Never adding flavor to her accent
Some say Rih has never changed,
Even with all her diamonds and pearls
Rihanna is still a St. Michael Girl.”
― Charmaine J. Forde
“No one leaves this hidden treasure,
Feeling the same way they came,
They refer their friends to this Gem,
This island with a beautiful name,
My beautiful “Bim”—Barbados”
― Charmaine J Forde
“No one leaves this hidden treasure,
Feeling the same way they came,
They always refer their friends to this Gem,
This island with a beautiful name,
My beautiful “Bim”—Barbados”
― Charmaine J Forde

“When people ask me where I am from, I say “Barbados” and sometimes I mention “broken trident”
― Charmaine J. Forde

“I miss that jellied coconut and that
invigorating coconut water,
Oh, how I miss my sweet Barbados,
“Yes, this is your lost daughter”
― Charmaine J Forde

“When I was a little girl, I used to sit in that two bedroom chattel house in Barbados and dream about America, the one I saw on the glittered postcards.”
― Charmaine J Forde