The Silence Is Deafening

 

 

That the silence is deafening

Is perhaps why we cannot hear,

A numbness now so accustomed to,

It’s just a momentary fear.

 

A nine-day wonderment

And this too will be forgotten

Amidst words of impressive rhetoric

From the PM and Opposition.

 

John King’s “How many more”

Chokes me one more time

As I attempt to turn this matter over

In my overworked mind.

 

All of this after we were told

By a top legal and top constabulary

We may go about our business as usual,

There's no need to worry.

 

The deflection and side stepping

Are at work again

And the real culprits are enabled

And continue to reign.

 

The whole weight comes down

On the shooter of the gun

And the police must chase the assassin

That is now on the run.

 

 

But no note of the importer

That brought in the gun,

Not one is being brought to justice:

No, not one!

 

Do you mean to tell me

Gun importers are so elusive

To evade the police intelligentsia?

Why that’s impressive!

 

Flying below police radar

Or better still, high up above,

These operators can’t be apprehended

For money or for love.

 

Another one bites the dust!

This time, a thirteen-year-old

And mere sentiment is poured out

O’er his body cold.

 

Why wasn’t he at home

Preparing for school?

Did they not know this is an area

Where illegal guns rule?

 

Why of everybody out there

He was the only one shot?

It’s as though this aspiring schoolboy

Was central to some plot.

 

Come on right thinking bajans

Do not cloud up the issue,

Those that are ultimately responsible

Are not the shooting youth.

 

 

But people in high places

Like in politics or commerce

Where the dollar sign is the bottom line

And after which some thirst.

 

One top cop iterated

It is through legitimate ports

Yet none of these illusive importers

Come before our courts.

 

Target the gun importers

And make it difficult for them,

Deal with the symptoms for sure

But also, the problem.

 

 

 

And when they are discovered

Do not cover up the info,

Regardless of profile or prominence

John public needs to know.

 

So that this youth’s demise

And the several gone before

Would be remembered as the catalyst

That shut the gun import door.

 

For the silence is deafening

And our youth are dying

And the importers of the damnable guns

Are the only ones thriving.

 

Stewart Russell © March 27, 2025

 

Have We or Have We Not?

 

 

Have we a Constitution?

Please, somebody tell me!

I am longing to hear

From someone in authority.

 

A few lawyers have said

That Barbados has none

And this has been reinforced

By a certain gentleman.

 

He is standing his ground

This certain gentleman

And adamantly refuses to adhere

Even to Court summons.

 

 

Tell me, Dear Attorney General,

What have you to say?

You’ve been rather silent,

Is this your way?

 

If anybody could tell me

That body should be you

But for some unspoken reason

We can’t hear from you.

 

The Chief Justice is another

But this would not be proper

Since the AG is in the position

To settle this matter.

 

 

Madam Prime Minister

Are these lawyers right

That we have no Constitution?

Can you shed some light?

 

Or would you rather be silent

And let the AG speak

Regarding this important matter

That has reached a peak?

 

It is business as usual

In the Parliament and Court

But some think it is not legal

And we are making sport.

 

 

That may be for some

But not for the ones “going up”

For once sentenced by a Judge,

They are out of luck.

 

Parliament is meeting

And still passing laws,

Meanwhile, having no Constitution

Constitute a fundamental flaw.

 

Recipe for anarchy!

That’s a country without law

And if it were so with Barbados

This would be the last straw.

 

So, there must be something

That sustains law and order,

Please, someone in authority,

Tell me I need not bother.

 

 

This terribly loud silence

Is frightening me

And I cannot hear from anybody

In authority.

 

I am checking the tabloids,

The radio and television news

And all day long only hearing

Other people's views.

 

I went with my fastness

And wrote on July 29,

That we still had a Constitution,

Is what I opined.

 

I said I was not a lawyer

By any stretch of the imagination

But like a late PM I was adamant

We had a Constitution.

 

So, Madam Prime Minister,

Or smiling Attorney General,

What is the status of law and order?

Please tell the people.

 

Stewart Russell © August 8, 2023

Absentee Landlord?

 

 

I have noticed here of late

The PM is frequently out,

That she has an International profile,

There is little or no doubt.

 

How much benefit we derive

I am in no position to know,

But I get the distinct impression

She feels she has to go.

 

That she is an absentee landlord

Keeps nagging at my mind,

But I am keeping it to myself

At least for a little time.

 

The Deputy Prime Minister

Has had much opportunity for acting

And surely with her other challenges

This must be fairly exacting.

 

In the PM’s recent Cabinet reshuffle

She shifted the acting PM

But soon afterwards, was off again

Oblivious of the problem.

 

 

She has received many accolades

From at home and from abroad

And some even wish she were their PM

To answer their Macedonian call.

 

But she must be very careful

She doesn’t fall for the trick

For, while grabbing at the proverbial carrot,

She may suddenly lose her grip.

 

The former PM was absent

In that you seldom heard his voice,

This current PM is absent too

But absence is her choice.

 

The home-front is critically important

It’s the bread and butter issue,

There must be a Minister of Foreign Affairs:

Doesn’t such come under his purview?

 

Add to him the numerous Ambassadors

And the Diplomatic Corps

That reside in foreign countries

To bring local concerns to the fore.

 

 

Of course, there are the PMs’ summits

To which the PM must go

But why this abundance of travel?

Does anybody know?

 

Deployment is a necessary skill

But so too is its monitoring

And left to the designs of some people

There could be a lot of suffering.

 

Just like Britain and her colonies,

She being an absentee landlord;

Such behavior in the new republic

Borders on the absurd.

 

To my friends if I have offended,

Believe you me, I meant no harm,

But think beyond your partisan loop

And beyond the PM’s charm.

 

And to our beloved Prime Minister

Beware of the International lure,

Prove to us in our time of need

That you are Bajan to the core.

 

Stewart Russell © November 10, 2022

 

Words Did It All

 

 

Many an argument was won

Yet, nothing was ever changed

And, if anything at all,

Only deck chairs were rearranged.

 

Same deck! Same chairs!

Though with guaranteed satisfaction!

But when the proverbial dust had settled

There was little or no action.

 

Like that no-change budget

That came ‘round ‘eighty-seven’,

Previous gains were radically eroded

But the no-change was like leaven.

 

No-change was just the term

To satisfy the uninformed

But no-change was a clever ruse

To bring back the old norm.

 

Yes! Words had done it all

And the people were satisfied

But alas! ‘Words’ was all it was;

The real purpose was denied.

 

My thoughts were once required

Regarding a Minister’s presentation,

“Bare talk!” I replied in sincerity;

That was my summation!

 

But given the Minister’s nature

She pressed me hard to explain

Upon which I suggested to her

We are at this point again.

 

 

The point of hearing words

And being emotionally carried away,

But concerning such implementation

We never see the light of day.

 

Back then I had been teaching

For twenty years plus four

And I had come to this very point

Often times before.

 

For many, ‘words’ does it all

Especially with the theatrics,

Yes! When these two are working well

The people are easily tricked.

 

Elections are platform based

‘Tis there that they are mostly won

With suave and romantic rhetoric!

‘Words’!  And the work is done!

 

Words and window dressing

Can go a very long way

Where promise is a fool’s comfort

Or any storm-swept day.

 

Integrity legislation is in place

But only in words, I perceive,

For with consecutive Governments,

Words are all we have received.

 

Just like so many promises

That prior to governing were made

But little or no action subsequently

To enact the necessary upgrade.

 

He is a sucker for punishment

Who gets suck in all the time

And who, time and time again,

Operates from a mindless mind.

 

Mindless, the opposite of mindful,

Is the nature of the mind, I mean

And who because of such mindlessness,

Acts out the very same scene.

 

It may be five years duration

Or just three years and one-half

When the five-year obligation was aborted

And it was on to a new draft.

 

Little was actually accomplished

Regarding the promised upgrade

But into Election Harbour we pulled

And that was only to set sail.

  

Armed with a Republic notion

And coupled with erudite words,

A fresh old mandate was exacted

Though to many it was absurd.

 

But the PM’s ways are past finding out

And higher than anyone’s thoughts

And her words are very soothing

Even to the very distraught.

 

 

There is power in our words

Though they actually get nothing done

But history has generally shown

It is talkers that have won.

 

Oh, that we could have some shakers,

To shake off the moral decline

And some true political movers

To move us back up this incline.

 

But alas, ‘tis words we put trust in

Constantly to our detriment,

And in light of poor track records

We summon good intent.

 

Good intent is but thoughts

Expressed in sugar coated words

That do nothing to ameliorate

The damage already incurred.

 

Finally, I draw to your intention

The implied irony of this theme

And the notion that words can do it all

Should die with the sleeper’s dream.

 

For it is a fool that sleeps

That believes his dream was real

And such is a fool that trusts in words

Even when such promises fail.

 

Stewart Russell © November 10, 2022