From Whence the Guns

 

From whence the guns

That spill the life blood

Of the many youths of our country

In our neighbourhood?

 

Why such a mystery

Guarded with hushed tone

Spreading death across the land

From zone to zone?

 

How did we get here

Given the lot o’ talk

Mouthed by the elected authority

But lacking the walk?

 

Are there untouchables

That cannot be touched

Or are English speaking politicians

Talking Dutch?

 

 

From whence the guns

And via whom I ask,

Is the attempt to thwart police

An assigned task?

 

Is “If you see something

Say something”

To be taken seriously

Or is it just another saying?

 

Is it to make the vulnerable

Even more vulnerable

And get the same said vulnerable

Into more trouble?

 

And when I see something

And then say something,

Are those charged with doing something

Going to do anything?

 

 

I have become a skeptic

And I will tell you why:

That there is little being done

I cannot deny.

 

Many be the barking dogs

Which are chained

That are repeating the same bark

Again, and again!

 

Somebody has to know

From whence come the guns

And I don’t mean who import them-

Please don’t make fun.

 

 

Who will spot the light

On the source of this crime

And follow the advice of a calypso

About where to shine?

 

From whence the guns?

Come they not from somewhere

Or else, tell me my dear Watson,

How would they get here?

 

And by whom the guns?

Come they not by someone

Or can you tell me my dear Watson,

Are the importers gone?

 

Gone from here abouts

That they cannot be found

Or are our investigators made to look

Like bungling clowns?

 

Hats off to each calypsonian

Who, with social commentary,

Was not afraid to speak to the ills

In this country.

 

Will the authorities

Now take the lead from them

And most assiduously and fearlessly

Deal with the gun problem?

 

 

And don’t dare mention tint

Or intercepting people’s calls,

For this is a horribly failed attempt

To make fools of us all.

 

Stewart Russell © August 10, 2025

 

It’s Tic not Tac

 

 

Quite a number of words

You will find end in tic,

Let’s go where relics are found:

Let’s go up in the attic.

 

We should examine them thoroughly

Hence, let us be analytic!

Or, we can number them

As in Arithmetic.

 

We can arrange some of them

In an acrostic

Maybe to spell out a word

Like charismatic.

 

You get to choose your words

As in democratic

And let no one accuse you

Of being dogmatic.

 

Here is a good opportunity

To engage a critic,

Hopefully that one’s criticism

Will not be too drastic.

 

One exposed to harsh criticism

Can become a skeptic

And his appraisal of another

Could be rather septic.

 

On the other hand

One can become overly ecstatic

And, if not kept under control,

Can also become problematic.

 

 

Persons opposed to criticism

Are often seen as egotistic

And the attempt to convince such persons

May be rather optimistic.

 

This attempt to be poetic

May have been somewhat pathetic

But I beg your indulgence:

Please do not be sarcastic.

 

For me right now

That would be too traumatic

But I would not object to any treatment

That is therapeutic.

 

 

To write a poem on tic

Cannot be very romantic

And I dare say in my own defense

Nor particularly scholastic.

 

It is not about the specific,

Rather more like the sporadic

And since I am my worst critic,

It’s certainly not terrific.

 

This is symptomatic

Of the analytic

Whose approach is rather idiotic

Not to mention ballistic.

 

As one who loves the aesthetic

I can only be apologetic

For what must be the frantic mind

Of a mental paralytic.

 

An abundance of static brain cells

That are no longer dynamic,

However, help is on the way…

Don’t panic!

 

Stewart Russell © June 19, 2021

 

None Without A Belief

 

 

An atheist and an agnostic

Stopped to talk one day

And the following, my friend,

Is what they had to say.

 

Asked the atheist of the agnostic

“What do you believe?”

“Only what I now know

And by nature, what I’ve received.”

 

“So, you don’t believe in God?”

The atheist prodded.

“I don’t know whether there is one.”

To this, the atheist applauded.

 

 

“Clearly there is none.”

The atheist advanced,

Figuring this was his opportunity

He took the offered chance.

 

“If there is a God,

He just couldn’t care,

Given all the evil around

And what we must bear.

 

If there is a God

And he actually cares,

Then he is powerless to change it.

Now that’s a real fear!

 

So, for me, there’s no God.

I can’t believe there is one

And the way you talk, Agnostic,

I am not alone.”

“Hold up just a minute!

I never said that.

Actually, I do not know we can know

Which one is fact.

 

It can’t be truly known

Whether there is a God or not.

In fact, I believe with all my heart

Christians have lost the plot.”

 

“So, you don’t believe in God?”

The atheist query again.

“Re a definitive position,” says the agnostic,

I respectfully abstain.

 

“So, what do you believe?”

It was the turn of the agnostic.

“Perhaps you are more assured than I

And more than a skeptic.”

 

“What is there to believe

Except all that one can see?

Nature is all that one can see

And nature is all there be.

 

 

I believe in nature,

An everyday teacher is she.

There’s nothing beyond Mother Nature,

That’s all we need to see.

 

You’re right, I am not a skeptic

And I have no need to be.

Mother Nature supplies the answers,

Any moron can see.

 

You don’t know what to believe

But I most surely do.

There is no God for me

And there is no God for you.”

 

“You can decide that for you

But not also for me.

I will make my own decisions

Based on what I see.

 

As an agnostic, I sit on the fence

And maybe one day I’ll change

But given your fickle presumptions,

I find you rather strange.

 

I’d rather be an agnostic

Than to be an atheist any day

And in my humble opinion,

You have lost your way."

  

Non-sensical in their beliefs

Both ridicule the Christian

For believing what Christians believe

And regarding the creation.

 

But the gravity of the situation

Goes much further than this

Since concerning what ultimately matters

They both are at risk.

 

For he that will come to God

Must first believe God exists

And neither the atheist nor the agnostic

Has come around to this.

 

 

None is without a belief

Everybody has one,

Whether in God or something else,

There is a belief of some form.

 

Atheists say there is no God

Agnostics posit we cannot know,

Christians believe it ultimately matters;

God’s Word tells us so.

 

Since all are wired to believe

Why not believe God’s Word?

If right now you are reading this

I trust you have concurred.

 

Stewart Russell © September 16, 2021