Standpipe Politics with Smartie and Moron (6)

  

By now you can see

Where Moron and Smartie be,

Clearly Smartie is a resolute ‘B’

And Moron is ‘D’.

 

Bear this in mind

As we continue this episode,

Different political alliances yet allies

They continue to show.

 

Here is the question

That now occupies their mind:

“From year number fifty-two to year number sixty,

How much did Bim grow in this time?”

 

This is the Auntie Mia years

Eight years to-date,

Of course, with any PM you and I know

There is a mix of love and hate.

 

“So, Moron, wuh you tink

‘Bout de question dey ask?”

“Well, Smartie, as you know, as for me,

Dat is a difficult task.

 

Cause as you done know,

I en no Mia fan

And unlike you and all de BLP yard fowl,

I doan find she too grand.

 

But um is very true

That she cat-spaddle we:

Thirty-love, thirty-love and thirty-love again

Really mash up de DLP.

 

But wid a 3-peat like dat

And a mandate so large,

All that Mia did as far as I can see

Was to be large and in charge.

 

And as a Mottley,

Dat is truly who she be:

Very large and very in charge

Over dis country.”

 

“But wait, Moron,

Dat is all you got to say,

Despite de fact o’ you admitting

DLP lost dey way?

 

Wuh, Mia rescue we

Especially in de COVID,

Secure de vaccine fuh we from India,

O yes, she did.

 

And she gih people money

To help dem each week.

Nuh wundah duh call she Auntie Mia,

Man she too sweet.

 

She raised de pensions

Especially fuh de poor,

My pension went up near 50 percent,

I wish um was more.”

 

 

 

“But Smartie,

You din even contribbit

And now you getting de same as me,

Yuh cud go and check it.

 

She promise to cah up mine too

But um en happen yet.

De funny ting, Smartie, is that I contribbit

But she en keeping dat debt.

 

While I glad you get sumpting

I still tink it was onfair,

She shud da do sumpting fuh de rest;

Dat shud da be clear.

 

Eight years she did in

Wid nearly all o’ de seats

And a promise she mek back in 2018

She cahn even keep.”

 

“Wuh nearly all o’ de seats?

Moron, she win all!

She lick de pants off you and you party

Whenever de elections call.

 

Had it not fuh dem betrayers,

You know de two I mean:

De Bishop and de one dey call de RAT

We wudda wipe it clean.

 

Yuh en see de same RAT

Mash up de DLP

And now we got Lashley and Sinkler

In we party?

 

I went an’ vote fuh Lashley

‘Cause he done wid de DLP

An’ I moving wid any and everybody

That wid Mia Mottley.”

 

“I hear you, Smartie,

Evahting like um gine you way

But night does run till day ketch it,

I will get my day.”

 

“By de time you day get hey

You gun be in Westbury

And you gine be one disgruntle

And restless duppy.

 

I only hope, Moron,

Duh doan bury you near me

‘Cause just like in life and all like now,

You gine cause me misery.”

 

“Wuh Smartie, who older?

Wuh, you older than me

An’ I gine be around for a long time

After you dead an’ bury.

 

But getting back to de point,

You en suh nutting yet.

If you want to talk ‘bout wuh Mia do,

Why not talk ‘bout we debt?

 

Billions of dollars in debt

And borrowing to pay back,

Borrowing from Harry to pay back Paul

An’ de poor still lack.

 

Cahn even see wuh she doing

Or weh de money gone,

Yuh know wuh de ole people used to say,

It must be gone in Maxwell pond.

 

Borrowin’, borrowin’, borrowin’,

Dat is all she doin’

And poor Bajans like me and you

Sufferin’, sufferin’, sufferin’.”

 

“Moron, please gih me chance

Leh me talk now

‘Cause I listen to you criticizing my PM

And cahn get in a word, nuh how.”

 

“All right, Smartie,

I gine gih you a chance,

Okay, muh boy, open yuh mout’

And do yuh dance.”

 

"Okay, Mia bring ‘bout reform

And transformation,

Nuff people get tek from paying tax:

Land tax and income taxation.

 

During COVID-19

De school children get tablets

So dey could continue to study pun line

And do work de teachers set.

 

De cost o’ living come down

Wid a basket o’ goods,

She tek de VAT off o’ them food items

Like a good PM should.

 

She get jobs fuh nuff people

An’ raise de minimum wage,

She had private enterprise quarrelling

An’ dey were in a rage.

 

She improve school meals

And cut down pun sweets

‘Cause de trildren like dey had demons

So to speak.

 

She appoint more women

To hifalutin’ jobs

And get rid o’ de lot o’ dark tint pun cars

Dat criminals use to kill and rob.

 

She help de sports people

And even sponsor football

By adding she title to a competition

But dat en all.

 

She went all ‘bout de world

Trying to get help fuh we

An' you and all dem discarded scondrels

Just criticize she.

 

She form links wid India an’ China

And de Mudder Country,

All o’ dat she do and much more

Fuh ungrateful we.

 

She is de best PM we evah had,

I could swear to dat

An' bring we to de position to be a republic,

Dat is a true fact.

 

She got international acclaim

More than any past PM,

She even got more than Uncle Errol

And more than Owen.

 

Moron, I cud go on and on

But to you it wun mek sense

‘Cause you is Moron by name and nature

It’d only be an offense.

 

Plus, I got stuff to do

And cahn waste nuh more time,

I got a farm to run and people to feed

An dat pun my mind.”

 

 

 

“Okay Smartie, I en done yet

But you know how to run,

Nevah you mind, de next time we meet,

It’ll be crime and de gun.” 

 

An doan tink I fuhget

De Constitution en come yet,

Two elections and five years of promising

And she en fix dat debt.

 

But I wun be suprise, Smartie,

If she borrow to fix dat too,

Anyway, my ole friend, I is a farmer

Just like you.

 

And I have to be ‘bout dat

In order that I may survive,

I may be Moron by name and nature

But I still know how to thrive.

 

An all dat I get

I get under Errol Walton Barrow

An he din have to borrow nearly as much

As Mia Mottley borrow.”

 

Okay Moron, I hear you,

Until next time

Whenevah we get another chance

To speak we mind.”

 

Stewart Russell © November 7, 2026

 

A Gift and a Grace

 

 

Ever wonder why

Some would not repent?

Perhaps they lack a special gift

That is heaven sent.

 

It’s not only a gift

But it is also a grace,

And unless one looks heavenward

There's not a trace.

 

It is a gift from God

Who extends this grace

To all who would come to Him

Or seek His face.

 

Perhaps you wonder

What this gift is,

Well let’s turn this presentation

Into a quiz.

 

 

I have given you a clue

In verse number one,

Just pause here and go back there

Before moving on.

 

Did you see the clue?

Oh, it’s there all right,

I see it there in the first verse

And I’m not bright.

 

Meaning if I can

You should see it too

For it is certain that between us two,

The brighter is you.

 

I’ll repeat the first verse

Right after this one

And whether you get it or not,

I’ll be moving on.

 

Ever wonder why

Some would not repent?

Perhaps they lack a special gift

That is heaven sent.

 

 

A gift and a grace

Is this poem’s title

And for everyone that’s saved

This gift was vital.

 

It is given by God

And placed in our hearts

And not to be confused with remorse

In full or in part.

 

Judas showed remorse

But he never repented,

God hardened Pharaoh’s heart

And he never relented.

 

God withheld repentance

As it was His to give

And Pharaoh chose to die

Rather than live.

 

 

He stubbornly resisted

Rather than concede

And though he could not win

He would not believe.

 

Repentance is a gift,

Yes, it is also a grace

And without God in our hearts

We don’t have a trace.

 

It is a godly sorrow

For the sins we commit

Hence why John the Baptist came

With this remit.

 

Repent, he stressed,

For the kingdom is at hand,

Repentance is a grace and gift

It’s what God planned.

 

Stewart Russell © February 27, 2025

 

Sixty and Five

  

 

Sixty and Five

A little confusing, don’t you think?

It’s almost my limited understanding,

Quite close to its brink.

 

Placed on a banner,

What will jump out?

Do they not mean Sixty-Five?

Yes, without doubt.

 

That the 5 is a subset of 60

Is not immediately grasped,

Especially if your IQ is like mine:

More than a little daft.

 

Now for the lesson:

Social Studies if you please,

Johnny is not nearly the brightest

But a chance he’ll seize.

 

“Teacher, Teacher!”

I can hear him shout,

“I know the answer, I definitely know,”

But all but him doubt.

 

Correct is not his thing,

He always answers wrong

And right now, the teacher is begging,

“Johnny, please sit down.”

 

But Johnny has this,

He is really convinced

“How old Barbados will be on the 30^th,”

Or so he thinks.

 

 

 

He saw it on a banner,

It stated Sixty and Five,

At least, he could add a little bit

In order to survive.

 

“Okay Johnny, answer up

Since you insist,

Even you, I am forced to admit,

Can’t miss this."

 

“Sixty-five, Teacher, sixty-five!”

The class went silent,

You could hear a pin drop,

The teacher stared with intent.

 

“All who believe Johnny is right

Please stand!”

More than half of the class stood up

With raised hand.

 

It confused them too

And this was clear to see,

They had added Sixty and Five too,

Not just Johnny.

 

 

 

Teachers, here is a reason

To teach set theory:

Especially about what a subset is:

Not just for Johnny.

 

 

 

This would take care

Of the Sixty and Five

As well as those banner persons

Whom I now chide.

 

Stewart Russell © October 31, 2026

 

 

What Is Poverty?

  

 

What is poverty?

You can ask anyone:

The absence or lack of money

Is the norm.

 

What is poverty?

The opposite of wealth

And it’s usually accompanied

By poor health.

 

What is poverty?

It is the curse of the poor,

Thus, from their birth to death,

Don’t expect more.

 

What is poverty?

Choose from the above

Or come up with another;

You be the judge.

 

However, here’s another

That I saw recently,

I’ve typed it out as it appeared

Just to let you see.

 

“Poverty isn’t

Just not having money,

It’s an invisible tax

You pay every single day

For not being able to afford

The good things from the start.

A poor person spends more to live

Than a rich person does.”

 

A cognitive crisis

Occurred to me,

I had thought poverty was

The lack of money.

 

The first line says no,

It’s an invisible tax

Imposed on the poverty stricken

And stated as fact.

 

Note this tax is paid

Every single day

And the poverty stricken must pay it

Without fail.

 

An invisible tax

Imposed by circumstance

Making it practically impossible

To ever advance.

 

Not able to afford

Essentials from the start

Will attract the daily life long tax

Of poverty’s mark.

 

 

 

Poverty is not

Just not having money

But even the little that one gets,

He can’t keep any.

 

The poor spends more

Than the rich really does,

Hire purchase for example

Is a real humbug.

 

The poor pays more

Than the rich in this case

And the longer the repay time

The more the waste.

 

A mortgage is a killer

As in compound interest,

Paying back several times over

Is a horrid test.

 

Buying cheaper

Rather than the genuine

Is more costly in the long term

And is overbearing.

 

It’s clear a poor person

Spends more to live

Since even the little he receives,

All he must give. 

 

There is a penalty

For being in poverty,

It is that daily, invisible tax

We call money.

 

A better word, I’d say

Could very well be debt,

Most that were born into poverty-

Their destiny is set.

 

Set to be poor

And thus, spending more,

This is the way of those in poverty;

‘Tis a closed door.

 

Here’s the quote again,

I trust it now makes sense

But if it is not applicable to you,

Take no offence.

 

“Poverty isn’t

Just not having money,

It’s an invisible tax

You pay every single day

For not being able to afford

The good things from the start.

A poor person spends more to live

Than a rich person does.”

 

Unable to afford

The good things from the start?

Well, it is that invisible tax

That rips us apart.

 

If you could afford it

You would spend a lot less

And you’d save that invisible tax

Thus, less stress.

 

Just to survive

A poor person pays more,

Far different from the rich person

Who has it for sure.

  

Poverty is itself a tax

Imposed on the poor

And this tax often reveals itself

In many a closed door.

 

 

An invisible tax

Imposed by the rich

Who gets all that the poor has

By treat or trick.

 

Money goes up

But seldom trickles down,

The rich invariably spends less

With the poor around.

 

“Poverty isn’t

Just not having money,

It’s an invisible tax

You pay every single day

For not being able to afford

The good things from the start.

A poor person spends more to live

Than a rich person does.”

 

Stewart Russell © September 2, 2026

 

Leave it in God’s Dear Hand

 

 

How oft, have I said,

Leave it in God’s dear hand?

Too numerous to count, I dare say,

But as many as were my plans.

 

For I was more than capable

As I oft had believed

That I could see my plan through

Thus, I had perceived.

 

Oh, I could steer my way through

The trickiest path

And come out on the other side

Way beyond my class.

 

I was good, so very good,

And I didn’t need a soul to tell me

For I was a helmsman par excellent

Buoying with great dexterity.

 

But alas, midway through

Or even before,

I was in over my head

In waters I did not know.

 

At first, there was no doubt

That I had the skill

But the circumstances were foreign

That caused my spill.

 

My engines had failed

And I needed power from within

Whereof I must confess

My patience had run thin.

 

And thus, I said to myself,

Concerning my plan…

Yes, you guess right, yet again,

Leave it in God’s dear hand.

 

It was my advice to myself

And to others too,

Leave it in God’s dear hand-

He’ll see you through.

 

And that worked so well

Till I got my confidence back

And before I knew it, my friend,

Again, I was entrapped.

 

 

Easier said than done,

That I have come to realize

So much so that in recent times

I am not surprised.

 

To leave it God’s hands means,

He leads and we follow,

It is enough for the present journey

As there is no tomorrow.

 

That sounds kind of awkward

I know

But the simple reality is

We are like a car on tow.

 

We have no power of our own

And only God knows the way

So, it is always better, life has shown,

To let Him have full sway.

 

I know I will need reminders

And they will come just in time

Meaning, that when I revert to my own,

Obstacles will block my line.

 

For my heavenly Father is faithful

And will never abandon me

And though the way I may not know

He is my surety.

 

Leave it in God’s dear hand-

That’s simply a command to trust,

Trust in God at every step and turn-

In order to make it, we must.

 

Stewart Russell © March 25, 2023