by Francis Quamina Farrier

YOU MAY BE Christian and observing Palm Sunday today. You may not be Christian, and so not observing Palm Sunday today, as tens of millions of Christians around the world are doing. However, if you are Guyanese, you will most certainly have had some association with the Palm tree; especially the coconut tree.

On this Christian Holy Day, the leaves of the coconut tree are used as part of this annual Christian celebration. In some cases, the leaves are carried and waved by the Faithful, in their natural form, and in other cases, platted into various attractive designs.
We are all aware of the myriad uses of the coconut tree; from the coconut itself, which is used for drink and food, to the leaves which are used for the making of the likes of hats and mats. Added to those is the use of the coconut leaves for the religious rite on Palm Sunday.
On Palm Sunday, one animal is highlighted; the donkey. One of my all-time favourite poems is entitled, “The Donkey” by GK Chesterton, who in that poem gives that dumb animal the power of speech. And so, the donkey admits that he is, “The tattered outlaw of the earth” and that he has a “monstrous head and sickening cry.”

As the donkey moans its horrid characteristics, he cries out: “Starve, scourge, deride me, I am dumb”. If one were to think on that statement by the donkey, one would realize that there are millions of humans who are also in a similar predicament; they have little to eat, they suffer unfair physical abuse, they are demonized, and worse, they have no voice.

We could say that the humble donkey – a beast of burden – represents the poor people of the world, who are treated shabbily every day of their lives. Those humble people who do not have a voice. Who depend on their Parliamentary representatives, their Trade Unionists, the Media, their Religious Leaders to speak up for them, as they survive their humdrum lives in a seemingly uncaring world, one day at a time. While some of the downtrodden have given up on their rough journey of life, others sojourn on with humble determination, and like the donkey with an over-laden cart, just keep going on, until they reach their destination.

Many of these people work hard, but still receive very little wages and salaries for their work. We could think of the Policeman and Police woman who put their lives on the line every day. We could think of the teachers who teach the next generation of citizens for little financial reward. We could also think of the nurses and young doctors who do a wonderful job in caring for the sick.

We can even think of the man in the Lighthouse; that lone and lonely soul who is up there, where the light flashes around and around, to ensure that the ships come safely into Port Georgetown with all the imported items from near and far, which we buy without ever checking the labels. Some of those items are imported from as far away as Australia, China and New Zealand. However, the final stanza of that inspiring poem, “The Donkey”, states the following:

“Fools! For I also had my hour;
One far fierce hour and sweet
There was a shout about my ears,
And palms before my feet.”

The poet empowers the donkey to give expression to the honour he had of taking Jesus, the “King of Kings and Lord of Lords”, into the city of Jerusalem, as scores of admiring fans of “Jesus Christ Super Star”, lay palms before his feet, on that first Palm Sunday. What a glorious hour for that humble donkey! In giving the power of speech to the donkey, poet GK Chesterton gives advise to the poor and downtrodden, that they, at times, have their hour – maybe when they go into the polling booth at General and Local Government Elections, and place an “X” to the name of the candidate of their choice, sometimes even while realizing that, that individual, if elected, may abandon them when in power. The poor will still have no voice, except when in a public demonstration and shouting: “We want Justice. We want justice”

It is traditional here in Guyana for the Media to give full coverage to the Palm Sunday observances around the city of Georgetown. So in tomorrow’s Print and Electronic news reports, there certainly will be lots of stories and photographs about what took place today, Palm Sunday, 2017. What will not be reported for sure is the dwindling number of Century Palms along Church Street in Georgetown, as well as in Le Repentir cemetery.
No one at City Hall seems interested in replanting Century Palms in Georgetown, and soon they will become a scene of the past, in a similar way in which there are now no Century Palms along the Houston Public road on the East Bank of Demerara, as there used to be a century ago.

What a shame! Century Palms were very popular in Guyana a century ago. And as one thinks of it, will century palms not be a useful element as we continue the efforts to make Georgetown become even better than it was, when it held the title of, “The Garden City of the Caribbean”. But do not be disheartened as there is good news. There are some young Century Palms on Hadfield Street in Georgetown, around the Dr. Walter Rodney monument. You should go and take a view of them sometime and be inspired.

Now, have you noticed that there is a dwindling number of donkeys here in Guyana? Or is the humble donkey way below your radar of things to be concerned about? Would it be important to take a census of the number of donkeys now in Guyana?
By-the-Way, when last has there been an organized Donkey Race, as there used to be back in the day, which gave us so much joy? I can recall riding on the ‘A’ train in Queen’s New York, and a recently-immigrated elderly Guyanese who was seated next to me, bemoaned the fact that he was away from some familiar sounds; “Me nah ah hear dem donkey ah bray”.

Because of the tone of voice in which he said it, I looked into his eyes; tears were settling in them. The braying of donkeys was a sound that he had dearly missed. However, we have to admit that some owners of donkeys are derelict in their duty to keep them off Public roads when unsupervised.

We need to be so careful about taking our familiar sights and sounds for granted, such as beautiful waving Century Palms and the braying of donkeys. Let us not forget that it was a donkey who took Jesus, the “King of Kings and Lord of Lords”, triumphantly into the city of Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday, as the crowd chanted loudly and with enthusiasm, “Hosanna to the Son of David. Hallelujah!”, and the palms being strewed in the path of that humble donkey, who proclaimed that Palm Sunday was his great day, as he happily carried Jesus into Jerusalem!