What A Loss!

 

This is a loss that touches me

To the very core,

It’s my childhood friend, Sandra,

Whom I will see no more.

 

I am at a loss for words

To express what she means to me

And to that precious family of hers

Who misses her terribly.

 

The go-to person you can say

When solutions are to be fetch,

And I can never recall one time

When I have heard her fret.

 

Selflessness was her hallmark,

Those who knew her would agree,

She was a mother to the young ones,

That can be seen readily.

 

To think that in my future visits

No Sandra will be there to see

And no expectation she will turn up

To embracingly greet me.

 

I have struggled with her passing

Ever since I got the word:

Oriel and Greg passed recently

And now she is the third.

 

Margaret predeceased them all

Some years back, I recall,

But Sandra’s perceived untimely call

Is a great shock to us all.

 

 

No more Whatsapp greetings

Or encouragement for the day

And her many and varied emojis

For sure have gone away.

 

A visit to the hospital

Convinced me she was on her way

Yet, I was still disappointed

At the sad news I received that day.

 

It was Shawn who had texted

The most dread of dreaded calls,

“Sandra passed a little while ago,”

And immediately was a wall. 

 

 

 

That wall that death creates

Between a loved one and their kin,

That wall that suddenly was erected

To block me from my friend.

 

I have no cheerful words today

To offer to anyone

But in my silence simply recall

The loss of a friend now gone.

 

 

And Sandra was my friend

And always, she will be

For as long as God lends me life

And I have my memory.

 

Stewart Russell © December 11, 2022

 

Gone Bar the Shouting

 

It’s gone bar the shouting

Christmas Day and its holidays,

The shouting in this case

Meaning New Year’s Day.

 

Of course, that will be Sunday

With the bank holiday to follow

On which the festivities of Christmas

Will be downed in a final swallow.

 

It will peter out on the sixth

Completing twelve days of Christmas

And so, we will end Christmas activity

And all the associated fuss.

 

The shouting will have ended

And hopefully back to work

For all them that still have a job

And do not care to shirk.

 

Today we will see how it goes

After the extended weekend

But we need “all hands on deck”

To halt the current trend.

 

 

By that I am meaning

The economic hole that we are in,

Production is an absolute must-

It’s time we earnestly begin.

 

It’s a far-off payday I remind us

To the next payday to come,

We are not yet into the New year

But December pay is done.

 

However, this is not unusual

Given the Christmas spending spree

So, we must cut and contrive as needed,

Until payday in January.

 

No doubt there’s an empty feeling

Now that Christmas Day is gone,

Some of us wish it would continue

Right into the next one.

 

However, this is not sustainable,

It cannot be everyday

So, let us bask a bit in it its memory

And get back to productive ways.

 

While I am a Christmas baby

And can’t wait for the next to come,

I’ll enjoy these remaining Christmas days

Until this one’s course is run.

It is gone bar the shouting

But I know that its reason remains,

For me that is Christ Jesus

And for all that revere his name!

 

Do take the Christ of Christmas

Into your heart for ever

And unlike this Christmas season

He will leave you never.

 

Stewart Russell © December 28, 2022

 

Life Has No Expiry Date

 

 

Life has no expiry date

But yours and mine do

And whether you believe it or not

Here’s what is true.

 

Your life and my life

Will come to a certain end

And neither you nor I can tell

If it’s around the next bend.

 

We do know for sure

Our life-spring is loosely wound

And when it unwinds to its limit

That will be our final round.

 

The final round in this life

But there’ll be a next to come,

I will say a little more on that life

Before this poem is done.

 

Another title we will have

When we lie in state,

Whatever our name had been

Will be preceded by “The late”.

 

The late Stewart Russell

Is what my new handle will be,

And when it is written thenceforth,

That is what you will see,

 

It is critical to understand

That life will eternally go on

But the life principle as issued here,

That will definitely be gone.

 

 

The Giver of all life is God

And He is life’s eternal source

But God orders not your life and mine

By His omnipotent force.

 

We treat to life as we please

As is demonstrated everyday

But we will be held accountable

By God who holds life sway.

 

Life is God’s to give

And life is God’s to take

But we often blame Him for the latter

Regarding our loved ones’ fate.

 

 

 

We quote from the book of Job

As though God said these words

But in the light of our poor choosing

I refuse to concur.

 

For God so loved, He gave

And what really did He give?

God gave to us His precious Son

That we should not die but live.

 

We could live forever

In the promised world to come

For there is no expiry date

In the heavenly kingdom.

 

The one that believes in Jesus

Will never ever die,

Though he be interred in the earth

It’s not there he resides.

 

For the life that is in the believer

There is no expiry date,

For the God who cannot die or lie

Has sealed the believer’s fate.

 

While you and I will die

It is impossible for Life to die

Except in the case of Jesus Christ

Who millions still deny.

 

 

But the Lord of life

Suspended life only for a time

To demonstrate to all and sundry

He is the only one of that kind.

 

Life has no expiry date

But yours and mine do

And whether you believe it or not,

This is definitely true.

 

Stewart Russell © December 13, 2022

A 69th Year Christmas Prayer

 

 

I could have gone

Like so many others I know

But I am still topside

On this earth below.

 

Whether I will live to see the 70^th

I cannot say

 But what I can say is that I am His

Whether I go or stay.

 

On this my 69^th Christmas

I give God adoration and praise

And to my Shepherd-King

My voice in thanksgiving I raise!

 

Lord, you have been so good to me

In ways I find difficult to number:

Not only when I was awake

But during my time of slumber.

 

In situations seen and unseen

You have been my stay

Governing my mouth piece

Regarding what you’d have me say.

 

 

 

I give you thanks

 For family and for friends,

And for my Christian brethren

And their next of kin.

 

Thank you for all the people

You have brought into my life:

My biological and church family

And not least of all, my wife.

 

May they enjoy this Christmas

Fully aware of the gift of Love

That came to the whole world

From heaven above.

 

And give you thanks

Even as I am giving you thanks

Until we too make that inevitable crossing

From Jordan’s banks.

 

 

 

With adoration and praise

I lift my heart to you, Almighty God

For the 69^th Christmas of my earthly sojourn,

And with thanksgiving

I ask that you shape my life to your norm.

 

Amen!

 

Stewart Russell © December 25, 2022

 

Is He Yours?

 

 

You may have heard the narrative

About the little girl and boy

Who would often play church

And church roles employ.

 

He would lead the song service

And she would preach the Word

And together they would have worship

As best they could afford.

 

She preached a stirring challenge

Being somewhat older than he,

And he would lead in the choruses

He could sing from memory.

 

Well one day the roles changed

And what a surprising switch!

Big sister led the worship session

And little brother was in a fit.

 

He thought of what to say

As she led in his accustomed role

And it’s interesting, to say the least,

How the narrative did unfold.

 

She ended her session with,

“Now brother, it’s you turn.”

And as he walked to the front of church

He recalled what he had learned.

 

He preached his tiny message

From the Biblical text he read

And though it did not last a minute,

What he said was well said.

 

It was a word to the unsaved

And an invitation re the same,

All that could be said when he finished

Was Amen in Jesus’ name.

 

 

He took his text from Psalm 23

Just a few words there:

“The Lord is my shepherd,” the little boy said,

In a voice distinctly clear.

 

The word was duly delivered:

The Gospel according to the Psalms

Followed by the question “Is he yours?”

An invitation most grand!

 

A most fitting eight-word message

As the Gospel came to the fore,

“The Lord is my shepherd,” the little boy said,

And finished with, Is he yours?”

 

That is the critical question

That should be on everyone’s mind:

Is the Christ of Christmas your shepherd

At this Christmas time?

 

Stewart Russell © December 13, 2022

 

VAT Free Gone

 

 

Today should be light

VAT Free gone,

You should have seen the crowds

Understand, I was not one.

 

Now bajans must be broke

Not the famous and rich

But the poor struggling bajans

That fell in VAT Free ditch.

 

The merchants complain

‘Bout how things slow

But rather than drop prices,

They add on more.

 

Government gets in the act

And help them out

By putting extra money

In the merchants’ money pouch.

 

Hence, VAT Free Wednesday

And bajans went wild,

Lines all around the place

And they were not single file.

 

Spending on items

That they don’t really need

And all the time they feeding

The merchants’ greed.

 

 

From 4’oclock they assemble,

Outside a supermarket

Waiting for it to open

So they could pay their debt.

 

To Christmas, I believe,

What else can it be

When we spend what we don’t have

On things we don’t need.

 

Are bajans short of cash?

It did not really look so

For VAT Free Day came along

And the money flowed.

 

From the cash-strapped

To the merchants’ bank account

And seldom does one hear

What is the full amount.

 

One company was boasting

About their profits this year,

Over 200% from what I read

Was their profit share.

 

A trickle down to the poor

Becomes a rapid to the rich

When VAT Free days come along

And bajans fall in the ditch.

 

Next day prices return

And all the money gone

But bajans still finding money

In some kind of form.

 

 

Visa cards maxed out

Residual bank accounts gone

Yet bajans still finding money

Like fowls picking corn.

 

VAT Free Wednesday gone

But bajans still turned on

To the Christmas sending spree

In more creative forms.

 

Spending is an artform

In which bajans are experts

And especially at Christmas time

They spend money like dirt.

 

And the glorified shopkeepers

That we call business men

Sit back and rake in the dollars

With little business acumen.

 

They don’t need to have any

With Government’s support

Who though severely cash strapped

Would the VAT abort. 

Can’t give tax returns

Because of the financial crunch

But will boost merchant sales,

What an interesting bunch!

 

But VAT Free gone

And poor bajans’ money too,

I hope you had better sense

And were not in the queue.

 

I may lose a few friends here

But only till Christmas gone,

VAT Free Wednesday has now passed

And it’s too late to be warned!

 

 

Now there’s no VAT to pay in,

Not a cent yesterday!

The wheeling and dealing merchants

Had it all their own way.

 

No VAT for this Government

To write off regarding yesterday

Like when VAT is not paid in

And nobody goes to jail.

 

VAT Free Day gone

And I gone too!

Keep a little for January’s rainy days,

Please, won’t you?

 

Stewart Russell © December 22, 2022

 

Count Down Really On

 

 

Now the countdown is on

Though Christmas is next week,

And though it will fall on a Sunday

I’m looking forward to its treat.

 

You see I’m a Christmas baby

No, not born on Christmas Day,

But like back when I was a little child,

I am extremely happy and gay.

 

Yes, I used the word gay

And I dared to use it deliberately

Because it describes my festive feeling

Most precisely.

 

Throughout the English language

One word may have several meanings

And using the word gay in this context

Must not be seen as demeaning.

 

O yes, the countdown is really on

And there is the Christmas list

Of the many things we need to procure

That we really don’t want to miss.

 

 

There are the ham and turkey

Just to mention two of the meats

And of course, not only for the children,

But for adults, their assorted sweets.

 

The diabetics will go on a splurge

And then storm the doctors’ office

Just after New Year’s Day,

And their medical services enlist.

 

Then of course there is the replacing

Of Christmas lights that shone so bright,

That were working when taken down

But now they give no light.

 

It was only one string last year

But this year two strings must replace it

As we eagerly seek to build up the stock

As is our traditional habit.

 

But while the countdown is on

It is not last-minute shopping yet,

That will come on Christmas Eve;

This is just the getting set”.

 

The countdown is really on,

You can tell by the crowded malls

And by the side of the busy highways

There is many a grocer’s stall.

 

Now, I’m not a crowd participant

But I like watching them from afar

And still get an idea of what they are feeling

From just sitting in my car.

 

 

 

 

No Christmas without the crowds,

Or without the Christmas rush,

All making for great excitement

As towards Christmas we push.

 

The excitement is building up

For the young as well as the old

And, as for the old especially,

These nights are getting cold.

 

These are all signs that tell us

Christmas Day is extremely near

And as countdown to Christmas continues

We are excited to be here.

 

Many have gone to their grave

During the passage of this year,

Quite a few of them because of COVID-19

And we wish they were still here.

 

No countdown for them

And it is with sadness that we reflect

But to be seriously honest this Christmas,

We don’t want to join them yet.

 

The countdown is really on

But be warned my excited friend,

There are some out there among us

Wishing all this would end.

 

They are not excited about Christmas

Like you and I are,

They neither care about the shepherds

Nor the wise men from afar.

 

 

 

They see it as a pagan festival

And as an intolerable waste of time

So that while you and I will be enjoying it,

Something else will occupy their mind.

 

Spare a thought for them

As you are immersed in this countdown

As well as all those that COVID took out

That are no longer around.

 

Stewart Russell © December 19, 2022