Believe You Me

 

 

Some would believe anything

As long as it is unbelievable,

If you must tell a lie, tell a big lie

And you will convince the people.

 

We believe in seeing the dead

And in talking with them too,

And some are more afraid of them

Than the living; that is true.

 

They are afraid of the cemetery

Especially during the night,

And even to talk of the dead

Will give them a terrible fright. 

 

They call them duppy and zombie

In dramas and in songs

And though frightened for the dead,

They still like to sing along.

 

They like those horror movies

That focus on the dead

And then are afraid to go to sleep

And lie awake in bed.

 

There are suitable beginnings

To dramatically introduce a lie,

“Man, you are not going to believe me”

Is one they often try.

 

“I definitely cannot believe

What I am going to tell you

But I got it from a reliable source

So you must believe it is true.”

 

Some preachers also tell lies,

I do not know if deliberate or not

 But some are so good at doing it

They can hold you to the spot.

 

Maybe not in Barbados

But in other parts of the world,

Some even raise the dead

I guess you must have heard.

 

I have heard of a preacher

Whose count is more than four hundred,

Believe you me, I must say,

I mean four hundred of the dead.

 

I am not saying it can’t happen,

I am not even saying it can

But of these so-called preachers

I am really not a fan.

 

I must confess I wonder

Why the hospitals they always shun,

Those people are still living...

That should be easier done.

 

 

Yes, I know I am a skeptic

And I have good reasons to be,

These things I find unbelievable

Believe you me.

Believe you me!

Some politicians are experts

And given the promises they frequently make

It would be difficult to distort.

 

At election time they make promises

They know they can never keep

But somehow manage to do so

At those times when we are asleep.

 

So that at the next election time,

Listed among their achievements

Are the very things they couldn’t do

Plus the many others they invent.

 

And we often believe politicians,

Especially the good story tellers

That exhibit their craft at election time

At that competition for liars.

 

Believe you me, I must repeat

Not because it is this poem’s theme,

But some would believe anything

Even if it was just a dream.

 

Stewart Russell © October 2019