By GHK Lall- I have always believed the Chinese are among the wisest to be found anywhere. The thinking is of Far Easterner of the ilk of Confucius and Master Meng, and not the political wisdom of China’s modern-day apostles, such as Xi Jinping and Wang Yi. It is the Year of the Wood Snake, according to the Chinese calendar, with the last one being in 1965, the ancient history of 60 years ago. What took so long? A rhetorical question, to be sure. I ask because this country is overrun with snakes, for everywhere I turn, I could tumble over them if the required focus is not there. They are that many.
In Guyana, there are wood snakes, water snakes, capital city snakes, and regional snakes. They all have a common scale and venom, slightly different colorings: they are political snakes of a mean kind. I came close to making a mistake with a nest of shiny snakes, their heads and their red coatings; some are green colored. Let’s just say that a toxic missile or two were barely evaded.
According to one snake watcher, who also doubles as a snake charmer, Yin Wood (this year) has a close relationship with flowers, leaves, and grass, which I hear her say it is associated with diplomacy and flexibility. I am sending a plane ticket for this Yin Wood (snake) authority to travel to Guyana, so that there is firsthand experience with the wood snakes here. They are different ones for different days of the week. Towards the end of the week, one of the bigger and more cunning one crawls out of the lairs in which these adorable creatures live.
It was the great American Country and Western singer who long ago sang mournfully about “When snakes crawl at night.” He should have lived to see the snakes that Guyana has that crawl night and day, without so much as taking one day off. Not even Christmas; not when cash grant billions are up in the air and the Guyanese people are not watching because they are too busy having a good ole time in the spirit of the just concluded festive season.
I have always been a believer in the profoundness of the Chinese, and with reason. I see my faith paying some rich dividends. Of all the year to be declared the Year of the Wood Snake, it just had to be this highly-charged one of 2025. I cast a fearful eye at America and shudder: nothing of that sort can be happening. It must be a product of all those Stephen King horror novels and too many movies with names like Friday the 13th and Venom that were watched. Then I turn to Guyana, and there is nowhere left to retreat.
The gaze is fixed on Robb Street and it is neither Stabroek News nor the Bourda Market, but there is one of the greatest concentration of snakes that one can imagine. Midnight velvet snakes, bronze snakes, and snakes boasting a deep, dusky pigment. The latter are the King Cobras, what Guyanese call bushmasters. A set of them even come equipped with yellowtails, which comes in handy when they have to beat a hasty exit from the people who hail from where ice and hail rain from the heavens.
Looking farther afield, both Vlissingen Road and Sophia are packed with snakes. Low snakes, deformed snakes, handicapped snakes. Fail to do what is right by them, and be prepared for a poisonous bite. Or several such toothy piercings. Those in need of a full body tattoo don’t have to go far. I recommend the snaky tattoo artists as being excellence personified and people who have nothing to do with vice of any kind. Be it act, be it things, be it people who question a lot and cover a lot of territory. Once bitten, people would be fools not to bite back, make sure that they get in the first strike.
It is also part of the ageless sagaciousness of the Yin Wood year that it comes with a neatly packaged warning. Here it is in flashing red (what else?) lights: this year could be “unpredictable and surprising.” Me, I am keeping my mouth shut, making no predictions. Pope Francis’ s Jubilee Year (Spes non confundit -hope does not disappoint) is what engages my attention, and not some damn election year. I ask pardon of those offended by the swear word.
“Unpredictable and surprising” is what could be in the cards. It explains why those who have significant dealings with the Chinese (the ones that operate in the shadows) are more agitated than usual. They are hearing heavy footsteps closing in behind them. Remember that one that I donated to all citizens, especially the more coiled, vicious ones: can run, but can’t hide. Can blabber, but that’s dismissed as so much blubber.
I have come across snakes in the grass, but shouldn’t encounter even one snake in parliament, or any government office. So, why am I? And what are they doing there, while behaving as though they are right at home? It is going to be a great year. The preference is for that terse Chinese description: an interesting one unspooling.
