Latest update August 5th, 2026 1:26 AM
May 27, 2026 Dem Boys Seh, Features / Columnists
(Kaieteur News) – We tryin’ to fly a flag. One flag. One piece ah cloth. On ah flagpole. And wha’ happen? Catastrophe. De whole affair tun into confusion. De flag knot up and refuse to go further. One of de soldiers ask de flag what is de problem. De flag turn to he and and seh, “Ah waiting pon Jagdeo.”
You would t’ink dat for ah flag-raisin’ ceremony, de one t’ing—de only t’ing—you cannot get wrong is de raisin’ of de flag. But no. We had men standin’ dere, salute lock stiff, watchin’ dis flag creep up de pole like it was climbin’ Everest in high heels.
Dem boys nah know what happen. If de mechanism jam? If de rope knot up? If de flag get de flu? Who knows? But dem soldiers had to hold dat salute so long, dey start feelin’ arthritis settin’ in real-time.
One man hand start tremble like he see jumbie. Another man eye water from de strain. By de time de flag finally reach de top—two hours later, or so it feel—half dem who were required to salute had to go hospital for physiotherapy.
But wait. Dis is Guyana. If we can’t get ah flag up ah pole, wha’ else we go get right? Look what happen at Parika stelling. Hundreds ah people stranded like lost chickens, while VIPs—de same ones who can’t raise ah flag—walking leisurely to de front fuh upper deck seats. Dem ordinary folk stand up watchin’ dem big shots wave from on high. Dem boys did try a thing fuh walk into de boat like a VIP. But de popo stop dem boys and tell dem how dem boys look like a scrape.
And de official programme? Start late. And to add to de time constraints, de President decide to give one ah his marathon speeches. Man talk fuh twenty-three minutes about t’ings everybody done hear in 1992. Somebody need to give de man ah egg timer. Ten minutes. Dat’s all de time he should get to talk.
Still, dem boys go give credit where due. De party after de flag fiasco was sweet, sweet. Dem even had ah barge nearby wid food, drink, and music fuh de special invitees. De barge decorate better than Fort Island.
But dem boys nah get invited on de barge. Dem boys had to wait fuh de MV Malali, and den sit back down on de lower deck—same lower deck, same smell, same view of de water.
So next time, use a smaller flag. Keep de flag raising pon de barge. And invite Jagdeo.
Talk half. Leff half.
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