Funny

 

Would you defrock a Bishop

For wearing a frock?

Would you disable a croc

With a piece of crock?

 

Could we get wet with water

That was not wet

And why take your robotic snake

To the village vet?

 

Is there any correction

For a topsy-turvy world?

If so, to which insane head-shrinker

Could it be referred?

 

Funny, these questions

That I am asking you

For the lines are so blurred

Few have a clear view.

 

 

Gay is not merry

And straight means not gay

And funny as we used to know,

Has come a long way.

 

Cause funny isn’t funny

As we knew back then

And it’s no laughing matter now;

It’s a huge problem.

 

Could a lie be a lie

At the same time it’s true?

And if this could ever happen

What could we do?

 

We’d have to believe it

And doubt it at the same time

And thus, nobody would feel

We are out of our mind.

 

Funny where we are

And how far we have come

To believe the total nonsense

That once was dumb.

 

 

The brighter we get

It seems the dumber we are

And we are missing the mark,

Not narrowly but by far.

 

Do you see what I mean

By this topic funny?

Now, if it is your idea of a joke

It’s not so for me.

 

Stewart Russell © September 18, 2024

 

Bettering Your Best

 

 

Sounds impossible?

 But it’s not:

Bettering you best

I mean.

 

We know the little maxim:

“Good, better best

Never let it rest

Till you make your good better

And your better best”.

 

Your “good” is worse

Than your “better”

And your “better” is worse

Than your “best”.

 

“You can make your “good better”

And your “better best”.

 

Likewise

Your “best” is worse

Than “bettering your best”,

So that even when at your “best”

You should never let it rest.

 

Today I am at my “best”

Tomorrow I can be “better”

One must aim for improvement

At every point of the ladder.

 

“Best” is always relative

To one’s own development

And so as a person matures

With the former he can’t be content.

 

 

Take for instance an athlete

That runs his quickest time,

Today that might be his best

But tomorrow

“Better” is on his mind.

 

Then he runs a little quicker

It’s “better” than before,

Yesterday that was his “best”

But today his “better” was even more.

 

As it is in sports

So it is in living,

Never settle for your “best” today

Tomorrow “better” you should be doing.

 

Because “bettering your best”

Must be everyday,

“Bettering your best”

Must be the desired way.

 

A personal “best” is temporary

For “bettering” it is an endeavour,

Hence ascending must be the thrust

For at the top is hard labour.

 

“Good, better, best

Never let it rest

Till you make your good better

And your better best”.

 

Make “best” what used to be

For it’s about “bettering your best”

And even when you “better you best”

Still never let it rest.

 

 

When at the top of a ladder

Create another rung

Or better still my aspiring friend

Turn the ladder upside down

 

That is, treat it as a beginning

And not the end of the climb,

Several more rungs to conquer

A new “best” must be on your mind.

 

Stewart Russell © August 2018

 

Israel Hath Sinned

 

 

 

What doth hinder thee

From thy forward march?

The command has been given

But we are yet to start.

 

We have prayed a lot

And we have fasted too,

But little sign of movement

From me or from you.

 

Could it be, I ask,

That prayer is a cop-out

And things that we can do

We now have doubts?

 

Or, are we afraid to do

What we can do

And so, we just pray to God

To take us through?

 

Are there untouchables

That we dare not touch

For these are special people

That are giving much?

 

Too much to be lost

If they are exposed

So, no sense opening that door;

Keep it closed!

 

Going through the motions

Has become the norm,

And like the prophets of Baal,

Prayer is a mere form.

 

 

 

A ritual more or less

If you see what I mean

Where within a given hour or so

We blow off steam.

 

With shouts and screams

We try to convince God

That He needs to do something

About what we appall.

 

We fight the devil

And we do so with might

Believing that through prayer

We could put him to flight.

 

And having silenced him

Our church will glow

In spite of the disagreeableness

That festers and grows.

 

 

It is still united we stand

But divided we fall

And in the latter, forward march

Will come to a stall.

 

Then we could pray

Until the cows come home

Nothing much will be achieved

If we’re in the wrong zone.

 

Call a solemn assembly

But not to pray,

Rather, pinpoint what’s wrong

And go the right way.

 

Often in a huff and puff

We make bad decisions

That have far-reaching effect

On our institutions.

 

Then we point fingers

And apportion blame

And this looks to the outsider

As though we are insane.

 

  

See the great Joshua

Down on his face

Praying and beseeching God

After the Ai’s disgrace.

 

Imagine the horror

Brought on by one man!

Defeat followed a great victory

Because of Achan.

 

A far weaker opposition

Gained the ascendency

Over the Joshua-led Israelites’

Superior army.

 

Bitterness is accursed

And weighs one down,

Bitterness with unforgiveness

Hinders getting along.

 

It impedes progress

As in forward marching,

It is like spinning top in mud

And severely crippling.

 

God will not do for us

What we ourselves can do,

Never mind how much we pray

We won’t get through.

 

If something is wrong

We must talk it through

And we must act out this in love

As believers should do.

 

Search out the camp

And our own selves too,

There’s a whole lot together

That we can do.

 

 

Get up from praying

And brush off your knee,

Get together with the brethren;

This is my plea.

 

Stewart Russell © January 9, 2025

 

Who Will Bell the Cat?

 

 

Who will bell the cat

For the car needs to be belled?

“Not me came!” the chorus,

As every mouse yelled.

 

Their community lessened

When the cat arrived

And their existence depended

On “Bell the Cat” drive.

 

“Oh, a great idea it is,”

Declared the wisest mouse,

But not one of those mice

Wanted to be souse.

 

 

But Cat moved so quietly

Not a mouse would hear

And only when one was taken

The rest disappeared.

 

Thus, they were desperate

To bell this cat

But none had the courage

To make it a fact.

 

He’d have to be asleep

To achieve this feat

And if perchance Cat awoke

He’d have mouse meat.

 

 

 

And as you know

Mice are a cat’s delicacy,

Especially so, I must assure you

When they are fat and juicy.

 

In many an organization

Are persons to be belled

But like mice, people are afraid,

Every time they yell.

 

Afraid of their bark

More so than their bite

And more often would cower

Rather than fight.

 

 

But in their little groups

They quarrel all day

On how they would bell the cat

In this and that way.

 

But none comes forward

To accept the bell

Yet they are morbidly afraid

Each time Massa yells.

 

Especially so in church

And in Parliament too,

Whatever the big cat demands

The little mice do.

 

And they raise no alarm

Pretending all is well,

Not one will blow the whistle

Or ring the bell.

 

 

Too afraid to do so,

There’s too much to lose

So, when required to bell the cat,

They all refuse.

 

Stewart Russell © January 9, 2025

 

Was Adam There?

 

 

If Adam was there

When Eve was tempted

Then, why from deception

Was he exempted?

 

Adam was first formed

And then Eve

But Adam was not deceived

Like was Eve.

 

Was Adam privy

To the conversation

Between the snake and Eve

In Eden Garden?

 

And if he was

Why was it not shown

And why under the bus

Was Eve thrown?

 

 

She faced the music;

To me that’s clear,

So why did Adam not speak

If he was there?

 

Some do believe

That Adam was there

While others will contend:

“Not even near.”

 

The serpent was subtle

The Bible points out

And that Adam was there

Might be in doubt.

 

 

Why would he let Eve

Be challenged alone

And allow the willy serpent

Disrupt their home?

 

It is a senseless thing

The first man did,

No wonder Cain killed Abel

And then hid.

 

 

Adam hid too

Along with his wife

After they had disobeyed

And were in strife.

 

The weaker vessel

It is clear was she

But was he not also weak?

Wasn’t he?

 

She gave him to eat

And he did eat,

That surely is an indication

He too was weak.

 

 

Else, why did he yield

To the crafty snake

Such that when Eve offered

He would take?

 

An indirect ploy

Was the devil’s plan

Thus, causing Adam and Eve

To forfeit Eden land.

 

Was Adam there?

He must have been

And thus, he supported Eve

In Satan’s scheme.

 

What if he’d held firm

And did not eat?

To this matter, let me say,

I cannot speak.

 

The fact of the matter

Is that he did eat

And from the garden of Eden

Had to retreat.

 

 

Adam was there

Though not deceived

However, he was so besotted,

He succumbed to Eve.

 

You would recall

Samson did similarly

When Delilah took his heart

In captivity.

 

That Adam was there

Is clear to me

But there is a bigger issue

We all should see.

 

 

Adam and Eve

Turned from the way

When the instruction of God

They disobeyed.

 

Stewart Russell © November 21, 2024

 

My Favourite Movie

 

 

 

I have a favourite movie

That has no name,

I like it so much

I watch it again and again.

 

I especially like

The parts of high suspense

And having watched it many times

I still feel tense.

 

It’s like, one of these times

He is not going to make it,

Leaving it for the last minute

Has become his habit.

 

Of course, as you know,

This has to be the star

And compared to the movie’s star.

None else is on par.

 

He is speeding along

And you expect him to crash

But with a twist and a turn

He is through in a flash.

 

Or, he goes into a town

And buts up on a fast gun

And the slower lies in the dust

When the dual is done.

 

And you constantly wonder

Why he wins every time

Notwithstanding that this movie

Is inscribed on your mind.

 

It’s my favourite movie

Though they’re others I like more

Yet every time I watch it,

Something new is in store.

 

Did that verse escape you?

Well, I would not be surprised,

That it also puzzles me

Cannot be denied.

 

Another thing that I like

About my favourite movie

Is how the star of this show

Is so immensely tricky.

 

He hides in the same location

Each and every time

And though his enemies get close

Him they can never find.

 

Every time I watch it

I expect a different outcome

But it is the same old, same old

When the movie is done.

 

No doubt you would ask me,

Why watch it so many times?

After all, it is my favourite movie,

It’s always on my mind.

 

 

This guy went to the cinema

At least twice a day,

He went to watch the same movie

Whenever it would play.

 

Like me, he really liked it

Or, maybe he didn’t at all,

But he went back each and every time

Hoping the building would fall.

 

The movie showed a building

Leaning precariously

And just when it seemed it would fall

The scene changed suddenly.

 

He knew should it fall

There would be action galore

So, like me, he always went back

Hoping for more.

 

My wife will watch a series

Over and over again

And it seems every time she feels

The same excitement and pain.

 

In my favourite movie

The movie star always wins,

Oh, how I wish life was like this

And not so grim!

 

That I could win every time

Just like my movie star

But I guess that is rather far-fetched-

Life is not on par.

 

Stewart Russell © June 9, 2023

 

My Twin Brother

 

I have a twin brother

That I would never ever deny,

Of us two he was first to be born

And nine years later came I.

 

Don’t ask me how,

Be silent with your question

And remember I should not be blamed

If you lack comprehension.

 

Yes, I heard that remark

You couldn’t keep to yourself

And I note you are also lacking

In basic mental health.

In the case of twins

One is born before the other,

I’ve never heard of a single case

Where both came together.

 

Such was the case, my friend,

With my brother and me

So, I don’t see why nine years later

Should be a mystery.

 

He once was my model

But I’m now too old for that

Plus, being nine years my senior,

He is a fairly old chap.

 

He’s second in my siblings

While I am the last,

Yes, my mother had septuplets;

Quite a formidable task!

 

And guess what, my friend,

Only one of us was a girl,

All of them quite mentally stable;

I’m the only one disturbed.

Back to my twin brother!

Don’t ask me which one,

You should see that there were six:

Four remain and two gone.

 

I have a twin brother

That I would never ever deny,

Of them all I was the last to born;

After them all came I.

 

Stewart Russell © July 21, 2024