After the Burnout Fireworks

 

 

In almost forty-one years of marriage

I have had lots of time to think,

About the fact that some marriages succeed

And others just go over the brink.

 

Today I came across the following

That suddenly made me alert:

“Love is what is left,” it stated,

After the burnout fireworks”.

 

I was brought to a screeching halt

As I contemplated this love definition

And I was driven to soberly admit

It is a truly realistic realization.

 

At first one perceives of emptiness

That usually follows a long-anticipated event

Into which much planning went

With animated but detail intent.

 

Like for example: a wedding ceremony

And the accompanying reception

Regaling the attributes of the newly-weds

Like a marriage made in heaven.

 

But not long after when reality sets in

And responsibility comes a-knocking

And the fireworks display has all burnt out

Love is that which keeps us a-going.

 

 

After a time of romp and ecstasy,

After the thrill and the enormous height,

Love is what is left, if anything at all,

That will take us through the night.

 

Not the ash after the fireworks display

But the love that defines the two,

The raison d'être, if you see what I mean,

That sees not the me but the you.

 

If fireworks are synonymous with love

Then ash will be the residual end,

But if what remains after the display is love,

Then a lifetime together we’ll spend.

 

Yes, love is what is left

After the burnt-out fireworks

And augers well for the two involved

When life delivers a punch that hurts.

 

Old age and sickness are life realities

And they come if one lives long enough,

They take the fire out of the fireworks

And makes the road ahead quite rough.

 

 

Fireworks a marriage do not sustain

Though many may boast of the same,

But the truth be told, whatever they claim,

Without love their effort will be in vain.

 

Today I came across the following:

I trust that you are still alert,

“Love is what is left

After the burnout fireworks”.

 

Stewart Russell © May 12, 2022

 

Gone

 

 

Father’s Day has gone

The amnesty is over,

To expect it all year round

Is like a four-leaf clover.

 

One in five thousand!

That’s a rare possibility

So, men get your act together

It’s back to normality.

 

Please aim straight!

Put down the toilet seat!

Move the shoes from the door

And mind how you speak.

 

Wet towel off the bed!

Expect the frequent nag

And since Father’s Day is gone

We’ve no right to brag.

 

Longest day for mothers

Is Father’s Day

But the shortest for fathers

Is that same day.

 

 

Father’s Day has gone

The amnesty has passed,

Back to normality for fathers-

Oh, it went so fast!

 

Twenty-four hours fly

When it is Father’s Day,

Now we know it will drag on

Till this time next year.

 

A caution to Fathers

And do take it seriously,

Be on your best behaviour

And live exemplarily.

 

Little eyes are watching

Ears hear what we say,

Make Father’s Day every day!

It’s the better way.

 

Father’s Day has gone

But family is still here,

So too is our responsibility

To give the best care.

 

Stewart Russell © June 17, 2024

 

Need To

 

 

Is anybody familiar with Need To,

That distant cousin of Done It

That is often mentioned in speeches

That come across as sacred edicts?

 

Try counting the “need to”

Then compare them with the “done it”

And you will discover, as I have,

“Need to” has “done it” eclipsed.

 

So many decisions are taken

On what we need to do

But there are fewer and fewer “done it”

That ever become true.

 

We need to fix this

And we need to address that,

And the “need to” list gets longer and longer-

And of “done it” there is lack.

 

 .

Can someone tell me

When “need to” will morph into “done it”?

Concerning the things that should be fixed,

“Need to” is a disconcerting habit.

 

For sure, we know the things

That we need to do

But it takes an inordinately long time

For “done it” to come true.

 

We need to do this

And we need to do that

And everything we need to do

Is a commonly known fact.

 

Yet the account is the same

Every time we report,

The “need to” idea remains in the pipeline-

And done it comes up short.

 

I leave you, the reader,

To compile your own “need to” list,

No doubt you would discover some

That I would certainly miss.

 

Yes, there are many “need to”

And relatively few “done it”,

Therefore, I would really love to see

The two become a habit.

 

So that one would follow the other

Very closely behind

And the “need to” aims and objectives

Would reflect “done it” every time.

 

“Need to” spells responsibility:

It is what needs to be done

While “done it” speaks to accountability

From which we should not run.

 

“Need To” is like the promise

That needs to be fulfilled,

While “Done It” is the implementation-

An act of the will.

 

These two walk hand in hand

Like as in matrimony,

The former without the latter

Breeds acrimony.

 

Stewart Russell © August 10, 2023

 

 

The Cellphone Camera

 

 

Something about a camera

That I appreciate:

It captures where you point it

It does not differentiate.

 

Quite obedient I suppose

It gets the job done,

It doesn’t shirk responsibility

And can provide much fun.

 

It has come a long way

From many years ago

But even though primitive

It created quite a show.

 

Quite a lot was left

To the photographer then,

He was the master

Behind the camera lens.

 

 

Today it is so different

Even in the simplest cellphone

And everyone’s a photographer

Once one they own.

 

From stills to videos

Any story they can create,

And that is the chief reason

Why the camera I appreciate.

 

Now given the Internet

These stories can go viral,

In a flash they can be communicated

To a world of people.

 

We should understand therefore

That such technology

Should be handled with care

And much responsibility.

 

 

What an amazing device

A cellphone camera can be!

But in the hands of the lawless

It can cause much misery.

 

It can capture a moment

And later create a panic

When that private behaviour

Is revealed to the public.

 

On these such occasions

The victims are not aware

That their actions are being captured

So they do not fear.

 

But later when they realized

Their secret is exposed

They wish to bury themselves

And pull in the mould.

 

Such cases could range from

From the vile to the criminal,

From a break-and-entering act

To the morally reprehensible.

 

 

Such are the possibilities

Given this modern day facility:

The cellphone camera I mean

With its enormous capabilities.

 

It truly narrows the gap

Between the novice and expert,

It can bring joy to the public

Or it can cause much hurt.

 

This is simply because

Despite its technological pitch

It does not come with

An automatic censoring switch.

 

Something about the camera

That I would like to see change:

A technological advancement

To limit the morally deranged.

 

Such would auger well

To promote its positive use

And stamp out the undesirable

With its flagrant abuse.

 

Stewart Russell © June 2018

 

Is It Asking Too Much?

 

Is it asking too much

To have an explanation

Into some of the goings-on

Of activities in this Nation?

 

Is it asking too much

To request an account

Into the millions borrowed?

Such an enormous amount!

 

Is it asking too much

Considering we pay taxes

And government has a responsibility

To report on its practices?

An account of the tax

Collected at the petrol pumps

And the disbursing

Of the entire amount.

An explanation of recovery

In terms of the economy

In a matter of months

Given COVID-19’s ferocity.

An account of loans engaged

And how disbursed

Re: this excessive borrowing

As a matter of course.

Why NIS is added to pension

To increase taxable income,

For old age pensioners

Whose work days are done.

 

Pensioners have paid their dues-

Some for over forty years,

Is it asking too much

That they be allowed to enjoy

Their retirement years?

 

Morning and evening words

Are invariably different

And we the tax payers deserve to know

How come we buy the house

And still must pay rent?

 

Is it asking too much

To have some light shed

On this darkness that engulfs us?

Enough said!

 

Stewart Russell © May 4, 2023

 

Accountability

 

 

Some do not mind

Having some responsibility

But to be held responsible?

Oh no! That’s accountability!

 

It is here, my friend,

That it all goes down-hill!

Responsibility defines the pay

Accountability is the bitter pill.

 

Let us get it clear!

The two don’t mean the same,

One is the job

The other is the pain.

 

How can I draw a salary

Without a job?

But regarding accountability

This becomes odd.

 

If only I could draw the pay

Without the job

Then there would be no accountability

And that won’t be odd.

 

Created for a purpose!

That’s what we’ve been told,

Accountability follows responsibility;

That’s how it unfolds.

 

Created presupposes

There must be a Creator,

Therefore, accountability is a reality

And not just a caper.

 

I will have to face Him!

I must give Him an account

For the time I spend here

Whatever the amount!

 

I can’t live as I like,

I must keep this in sight,

I will be held responsible

I must get it right!

 

God is the Creator!

The Almighty God I mean,

There is none beside Him

And none in between.

 

He holds me responsible

For the purpose I must fulfill

And such purpose, I understand,

Is according to His will.

 

So, accountability is a must

We can’t wish it away

God has set aside a time

When it will be judgment day.

 

He will be the sole judge,

All records will be there

And all will have to give an account

About what they did here.

 

None will be excluded:

Neither the poor nor the rich,

Accountability is a divine act

Not a caper or trick.

 

Many people today,

Considered brilliant and smart

Practise running from the light

And operate in the dark...

 

But, all deeds will be exposed

Whether wrong or right

And those done in the dark

Will be also brought to light.

 

For those of you, my friends,

For whom accountability is the issue,

 None shall escape its oversight:

Not me and not you.

 

Stewart Russell © February 11, 2022

 

Silly Season

 

 

 

Silly season was the season

Usually at Christmas time

But with the advent of COVID

It’s always on one’s mind.

 

The PM referred to it

In these most recent times

And with an election in the air

It’s not easy to confine.

 

I consider her quite shrewd

Yet I was baffled by her call,

It’s like let’s go back to the polls

And see where the chips fall.

 

A calculated gamble, I guess,

But maybe not so,

She must be knowing something

That you and I don’t know.

 

Divisiveness and silliness

Appeared to be hand in hand

And it is the PM’s endeavour

To block any opposing plan.

 

I really don’t have a problem

With so-called strategic thinking

But an election in silly season

Gives me a weird feeling.

 

 

Exercising one’s voting right

Speaks to a responsibility

But in this silly season it follows

It’s the voters that are silly.

 

How responsible is the PM

To call an election now?

If she could convince me otherwise

To her wishes I would bow.

 

What does she expect

Particularly in this silly season?

Silliness from silly people no doubt

That are void of reason.

 

Was she therefore silly?

Her ringing of the election bell?

Regardless of the outcome

Who’d be able to tell?

 

Can a silly person judge another?

Or cast a responsible vote?

I dare say not if he is silly,

This would be good to note.

 

 

Silly people are impulsive

And hence impulsively they act,

If there was a divide before

A greater is coming back.

 

Was the PM impulsive?

Was hers an impulsive act?

No doubt we’ll know on the 19^th

But then we can’t go back.

 

All this might sound silly

After all, it’s silly season,

Judge this poem in whatever way...

It may be void of reason.

 

Silly season is every day

By some body or some group,

So, whether ‘B’ or ‘D’ or ‘APP’,

Soon we’ll know the truth.

 

 

I believe going forward

We’ll see how silly we have been,

The present is ours to decipher;

The future is never seen.

 

Whether the PM is silly

Or those she is targeting,

I am in no position to judge

Not from where I’m sitting.

 

But we’re in the silly season

The PM would have to know,

It’s her season, it’s her call,

It is her show!

  

When silly wears off

Sound reasoning begins,

Let’s pray and hope we are better

After the results are in.

 

Stewart Russell © January 9, 2022

 

Teaching Approach

 

 

Who determines the approach?

The teacher or the child?

That traditionally it’s been the former

Cannot be seriously denied.

 

The teacher is the jury and judge,

In his classroom he is the law

And when the camel’s back is broken

He also is that straw.

 

And when he does not succeed

It is the child he blames

For the teacher knows what is best

And deserves none of the pain.

 

Armed with degree and experience

His dogmas take control

And any who suggests it’s otherwise

Is considered stupidly bold.

 

Stiff and resistant to change,

Repetition is the hallmark of his craft

And his present claim to fame

Is what he did in the past.

 

The child’s failure is his alone,

He takes no responsibility for such

Because his approach is perfect

And no one could do as much.

 

If you are a teacher like this

Then it is high time that you change,

It’s not the child that you haven’t reached

But you are the one that’s strange. 

 

Take some direction from the child

Regarding the way he learns

And don’t be resistant to the change

After you are better informed.

 

Children learn in different ways

Very unlike yard fowls

Which as they scramble for the corn

Can become very loud.

 

But one will soon come to find out

The ones that are getting corn

And hopefully help the deprived ones

When they are better informed.

 

It is of critical importance

To understand the children you teach

And not regard your station as a pulpit-

Teachers are not called to preach.

 

There is much that a child can teach

Concerning how he learns

But a teacher must rid himself of himself

And be ready and apt to discern.

 

 

“IF A CHILD CAN’T LEARN

THE WAY WE TEACH,

MAYBE WE SHOULD TEACH

THE WAY THEY LEARN.”

 

Ignacio Estrada

(Mathematics Teacher)

 

Stewart Russell © April 8, 2021