In Action and Inaction

 

 

 

In action and inaction

Same thing? You think?

Try looking again

And this time try not to blink.

 

In action and inaction

Same spelling, same sound

But there is a break involved;

We’re coming around.

 

People are the constant

And also, the variable,

However, we swing

They aim at people.

 

People take a break

They can’t always work

However, inaction in this case

Is not what we call inert.

No break in the action

Is said to be in action

But when the break appears,

This is called inaction.

 

In action and inaction

Take the West Indies for instance,

They've become so used to losing

There is little resistance.

 

 

Almost void of action,

In fact, sometimes none at all,

Therefore, I have no choice:

Their inaction I appall.

 

Now take the COVID fight

This is action non-stop!

The PM directs her generals

And others in this plot.

 

Inaction and in action

Can sometimes be the same:

Like Caswell Franklyn and his union

That some call insane.

 

Strike action is on!

In a sense this is inaction,

In another sense it is the opposite:

The strikers are in action.

 

 

Action has begun

Regarding the coming Election

Parliament is prorogued:

It is no longer in action.

 

Note the interplay

That occurs between these two:

Similar and yet so different,

Depending on the view.

 

Strike action is inaction

But it is also the action

To force a desirable outcome

To the nurses’ satisfaction.

 

Election is the PM’s call

To address a perceived inaction

And hence, in the coming days,

Candidates will be in action.

 

Whether inaction or in action

Both relate to a cause

And to determine which and when,

It is important that we pause.

 

 

 

 Pause for consideration,

Pause for contemplation,

Then take the necessary action:

In action or inaction.

 

Stewart Russell © December 31, 2021

 

Thimk!

If you saw it at the first

You’d know what it should be,

If you didn’t and you are honest

By now you should see.

I am just asking that you think-

The “n”, and not the “m”

As you read this little note

That I am about to send.

It’s one of those times again

When I have writer’s block,

I sense a need that I should write

But in my mind is not a lot.

I am pushing myself to think

Hence, the title of this poem,

If you saw the “m” up there

You know my problem.

I recall a certain math class

When I was still at school,

On the board a teacher wrote “Thimk”

And I thought that was so cool.

I was one of the first to see it

And I drew it to his attention

Whereupon he changed the “m”

And replaced in with an “n”.

That day I felt very smart

But that was where it stopped,

As you and I very well know

Mathematics is not my slot.

Yes, I heard that “What!”

And I heard that gasp,

I notice I had fooled you too

But that will soon pass.

  

I know very little math

But what I know I teach well,

My spelling is not that great either

But I guess you can tell.

I trust you have thought out

What I am trying to say,

Whatever you can do,

Do it in the best way.

If it is correcting people

Simply do it in love,

Just like our Heavenly Father

That lives above.

Don’t ever be boastful

Or be proud of heart,

This is not a good course to charter

So, don’t you even start.

Instead “think” as you go along,

It’s like thinking on your feet

And if the “m” crops up

Just strike delete.

This is a simple poem,

In which I have not said a lot

But if you saw “think” when it was “thimk”

Then you too had a block.

Stewart Russell © April 2020