WE ALL ARE ONE

The rhythm strummed from an electric guitar by a Tobagonian hand
Stirs in the gyrating waste of some carnival reveller over in Trinidad.
The sweat beading the backs of Vincentian farmers planting bananas
Is wiped off the brows of construction workers toiling in the Bahamas

As that in the river
Is in the sea to which it runs    
Like each finger is
A part of the hand it is on
Like that only day
With a never setting sun
We all are one

The social commentary sung by a calypsonian vying for a Bajan crown
Sparks the hope that lifts the poor Dominican woman when she’s down.
The thud of a kick drum that enlivens some sweet Jamaican reggae beat
Matches the heart thumps felt when lovers from the Virgin Islands meet

Like blades of grass
In an endless stretch of lawn
Like imagination that
Can be stretched but never torn
As if life’s the father
And we’re a schizophrenic son
We all are one

The joy brightening the smile that invites visitors to come explore St. Lucia 
Is seen in the proud faces of Grenadian graduates contemplating the future.
The will to rise from the concrete dust that covered the broken flesh of Haiti
Also lives in the hearts of a people born to win despite what the odds may be

As a drought’s as much a
Part of our climate as is a storm
As night melds shadows
Into a mass that has no form
Our destiny is together
Because that is where we’re from
We all are one