Three intriguing words
Pertaining to us,
Three mind-boggling words
Causing great fuss.
Integrally related
But frequently messed up
Three nerve-wracking words
In a bitter cup.
It is notably systemic
To treat to the symptomatic
Whereby the systemic
Becomes problematic.
Take for example, if you will,
The chastening of a child
Without ever trying to find out
Why he behaves defiled.
Children are easily led;
We know this quite well
And they adopt the lewd behaviour
That the adults sell.
Crop-over for example
And our “wuk-up” culture
Shown on our television stations
Leaving a vivid picture.
Indelible on their minds
As being desirable
But yet when they display it
It is detestable.
The skimpy costumes
Where allegedly we pay more for less
And the children see all this
That we regard as the best.
We promote the negative
With a “don’t you dare touch!
Noting that this is only for the adults”
But they don’t see it as such.
Then we treat the symptoms
That we have caused
Hoping beyond wildest expectations
To put the problem on pause.
“Too many guns in this place”
Remember the calypso?
But that was a long time ago
Now, daily they grow.
And we state the obvious
But then deny the same
With a “there’s no cause for alarm”
When it’s causing us pain.
Nearly thirty for the year
While for last year twenty-three
Raising the call for spiritual reflection
By the political authority.
And I ask myself,
What do we hope to gain
When we avoid touching the areas
That are causing the pain.
Who bring in the guns?
For sure not the shooters
Though the constabulary often called
For willing whistle-blowers.
A whole lot of ideas
Swirling around out there
But regarding touching the untouchables,
No one dares.
The cat is well known
But who will attach the bell?
Not one man, sorry, mouse bold enough
This problem to quell.
Drugs are alive and well
As evidenced in our courts
But given the villains we see paraded
We have to be making sport.
Where the untouchables?
Not one you will see
Just the symptoms of the system
That we view evilly.
The children and the youth
Are the scourge of our land
Meanwhile, the real culprits continue
With their evil plan.
Yes, the problem flourishes
As we treat to the symptoms
And there is stark systemic failure
And public delirium.
Commendation was given
To the leadership of a school
For their proactive response to an incident
What a peculiar tool!
This baffled me a while
But it is what we do;
It is clearly the cart before the horse
Which is our current view.
Proactive meant before;
Now it can come after,
Maybe it is technological advancement
To encourage laughter.
Too tragic to be comic!
It’s no laughing matter
Given we are an ageing population
And our youth seek the hereafter.
They are dying daily;
Some even in their teens,
Breaking News frequently greet us
With another murder scene.
Meanwhile we need to do this
And we need to do that
But we cannot touch a “big wun”
And this is a fact.
A little birdie tells me
That they are not unknown
And that they move in places
That we also roam.
Anonymous is not nameless
As some may think
And the most impervious armour
Has a little chink.
“If you know something
Say something,” says the ad
But it is only applicable to some
And this is sad.
I read quite recently
In one of our tabloids
Something attributed to the Top cop
That makes me paranoid.
Legitimate ports of entry
Being used for illegitimacy
And officials turning a blind eye
So they wouldn’t see.
But there has to be more
To this ancient ploy
And I would not even be surprised
Who are collecting the spoils.
If the Top cop’s words
Are anything to go by,
Much is happening around us
And it’s being done on the sly.
The problem is solvable
But who will “bell the cat”?
When men are mice and retreat to holes
It’s time for a man-sized trap.
Systemic Symptomatic Problematic
It’s time we get it right,
A system in which symptoms are treated only,
Problems will be its plight.
Stewart Russell © July 17, 2024
