Take Note

As we celebrate

Independence year fifty-three

Let us take note

It is no longer a spree

Fifty-three years of nationhood

Years of continuous struggle

Years of success and promise

But also years of much trouble

More so in these latter years

As we confront our fears

A lot of fret and a lot of care

Blood and sweat and tears

A change of governance

In our fifty-second year

With prospects and promises

That better was near

The vulnerable of our country

Still the vulnerable

And hoping that this will change

If such is at all possible

Water woes and garbage

Mounting up every day

Commuting from place to place

Difficult in every way

The challenge of recession

And the intervention of BERT

An economy once promising

In the grip of IMF support

All systems still on slow

A serious interruption in the flow

Material and human resources

Always getting ready to go

Difficulty in doing business

Everything taking a long time

With the prospect of enterprise

Ever on decline

Sick schools and buildings

And our youth devoid of feeling

Less focus on the moral

Prayer and Bible reading

Minorities becoming majorities

In matters of little repute

Time and effort wasted

On fruitless and vain disputes

The suspicion of sabotage

And that for whatever reason

The marijuana discussion

And the silly gender season

The fleecing of our people

By business people most corrupt

The “dog eat dog” mentality

A most destructive construct

A blatant disregard for God

And most things pertaining to Him

A mounting mocking perception

On what the Bible calls sin

A metaphorical procuring

Of our own coffins and caskets

And with a bent on spiritual suicide

Many appear dead set

A plethora of ideas

From the intellectually acclaimed

And universities and colleges

Now centres for the insane

The lettered and the illiterate

Almost indistinguishable

I would never have believed

This could ever be possible

The brighter we become

The duller in commonsense

Sorry to those who wear this cap

If you deem this an offence

  

I prescribe the introspection

Which has already begun

And sincerely hope at the end of it

The foolish thinking will be done

Observe the open punctuation

Do so with an open mind

Let’s return to our moral underpinnings

I deem this an opportune time

A transparent trust in God

And our Judaea-Christian constitution

I make bold to declare today

Christ is still our salvation

The highlight of a thriving nation

Is a nation under God

And other claimants to such success

Are only imposters and frauds

Stewart Russell © November 2019