The dream is dead

Dear Editor,

These words are taken from the song, ‘I dream a dream.’

There was a time when the APNU+AFC were kind.

When their voices were soft and they spoke about

A time for a change.

And their words were inviting and inspiring.

I felt hope again after my hope had gone.

I felt joy again after my joy had died.

There was a time when love was blind. My love for God, Guyana and the APNU+AFC was blind. APNU+AFC helped me to sing many new songs, songs such as ‘I dream a dream’, ‘The impossible dream’, ‘A change is going to come.’ And those songs were exciting. I was beginning to hope again and dream again. I dreamt of a beautiful Guyana. A land of many rivers and gold. A land of beautiful people.

I dreamed a dream in a time gone by that APNU+AFC would do better for the country. They would raise people up to the mountain. They would raise people’s hopes high. They would make people feel life was worth living. They would make people see the love they have for Guyanese would never die. I dreamt that they wouldn’t be overbearing and domineering. I dreamt of a new Guyana.

But then, it all went wrong. APNU+AFC came to power and increased ministers’ salaries without an apology. And now I’m right back where I was before APNU+AFC came to power ‒ without hope. This wasn’t the change I expected. But it’s the change that I’ll have to live with until real change comes.

I was dumb and got duped. And my dreams were wasted and turned to shame. But one day APNU+AFC will come to me again with their voices soft as thunder and ask for my support, but they’ll not get it.

The APNU+AFC taught me that there are dreams which cannot be. And there are storms we cannot weather. I had a dream life would be so different if APNU+AFC were in government. Things would be so different now from what they seemed. But now APNU+AFC has killed the dream I dreamed.

Yours faithfully,
Anthony Pantlitz
A Slave for God