In Whose Sight?

 

 

We are gathered here today…

In whose sight?

This question must be asked

Concerning this right.

 

The right to marry

Anyone that we choose,

And the marriage officer

Dare not refuse.

 

The first ever marriage

Was with Adam and Eve,

God actually arranged it-

I trust you believe.

 

 

It was Adam and Eve

Not Adam and Steve,

I reiterate, Adam and Eve,

Not Eve and Genevieve.

 

Eve, mother of all living,

In the garden of Eden,

Compliments:

A rib taken from Adam.

 

God, the first marriage officer,

Performed this rite

In the garden of Eden

With complete oversight.

 

He was the Father-Giver

And the Father of the groom,

There was no need to have

Any jumping of the broom.

 

 

Firstly, it was God’s insight,

Secondly, God had the oversight,

Thirdly, it was in God’s sight

Hence, God initiated this rite.

 

Who gives this woman

To be married to this man?

God was Eve’s Father-Giver

And He gave her to Adam.

 

It was in God’s sight

And in the sight of all heaven

That witnessed the first marriage

In the garden of Eden.

 

The angels were witnesses:

Both God’s and Satan’s

And of course, it is the latter

That is now the problem.

 

In whose sight?

Primarily the sight of God,

God has ultimate oversight

And marriage is His call.

 

Stewart Russell © June 30, 2023

Neighbourliness

 

 

At four different locations

I have been privileged to live

And I thank God for the neighbours

In every instant He gives.

 

First it was St Andrew

In my formative years

And back in those early times

Neighbours showed they cared.

 

Battering was a thing then

As they exchanged their produce

Your yams for my potatoes

Or anything else you choose.

 

No need to lock doors

And there was no fancy fence,

Country yards were not enclosed;

No need for pretense.

 

 

Next it was Government Hill:

More precise, Brankers Gap

And our neighbours were just as good,

This is a fact.

 

There was a shop next door

And this lady was so nice,

She would help wherever she could

And give us good advice.

 

She was a great peacemaker

And not given to rumour

With a bright twinkle in her eyes,

Able to appreciate humour.

 

I could give you some names

But that I wouldn’t do,

It really won’t make any sense

At least to most of you.

 

Eventually I married

And we moved to Christ Church,

Exceptional neighbours we had

Never once were we hurt.

 

 

 

We looked out for one another

And held each other’s hand,

There in that Wotton community

Was super grand.

 

We chatted about life

And the politics of that time,

We discussed religion and cricket

And whatever came to mind.

 

One thing we did not do

Was frequent each other’s home,

There was a mutual understanding

This was our private zone.

 

We felt a sense of security

As vital information was shared,

We were all community watchmen

Demonstrating we cared.

 

We sold the house at Wotton

And we moved where we now are,

They call it the Gardens,

To be more precise, Callenders.

 

 

  

Callenders Gardens, Christ Church

Is a God-given gift,

All good things come from Him

If you catch my drift.

 

Great neighbours all around

Especially next door,

In all honesty I can only say

We couldn’t ask for more.

 

Even as I was sharing with you

I heard the telephone ring,

My neighbor was checking on me,

Isn’t that something?

 

And not my next door neigbour;

They are currently overseas

But my neighbor who is ninety-eight,

Wouldn’t you be pleased!

 

The thing about these neighbours

Is that they are all very old;

In their late eighties and nineties-

Yes, you have been told.

 

Except for a husband and wife

Residing at the end of the gap:

They are in their early eighties-

Did you get that?

 

Makes me a youngster

If you can see where I am going

For having only just turned seventy,

There’s much I am not knowing.

 

God has abundantly blessed me

With extraordinary neighbours,

How can I help by thank Him

For his continual favour!

 

Nothing like good neighbours

That make you a part of their plan,

I sincerely pray and trust today

You are as fortunate as I am.

 

Stewart Russell © June 29, 2023

 

The Right to Breathe

 

 

Haven’t we all-

I mean, the right to breathe?

But sometimes I really wonder

And become so aggrieved.

 

Have you ever awakened

To the air clean and fresh

And within a matter of minutes

The atmosphere is a mess?

 

Or, there’s a cool night wind

Blowing through your bedroom

When suddenly, a scorching smell

Brings an air of doom?

 

Breathing becomes difficult

So, you slam the window shut!

Of course, the offender is up wind

But down wind is out of luck.

 

And this is not a one-off thing,

It happens more often than not

And your right to breathe

Is seriously blocked.

 

To breathe becomes poisonous

For to continue you would die

But you really can’t stop breathing

Even when clean air is denied.

 

Who gives someone, anyone,

Such unrestricted authority

To stop another from breathing

While living in a community?

 

I know this appears far-fetched

Like a tempest in a teacup

But you infringe upon someone’s right

Every time that you light up.

 

It is one’s right to live

Within the comfort of his home

And to breathe in wholesome air

Whether in company or alone.

 

Haven’t I the right to breathe

Just like you breathe?

Why must you contaminate the air

That we both need…

 

Making it difficult for another

That is located downwind from you

As though clean, fresh air

Is only your right and your due?

 

The right to breathe

Is a right that’s been given by God

Who, by His great mercy and grace,

Has given of His breath to all.

 

Stewart Russell © June 26, 2023

 

Our Prime Ministers

 

 

Prime Ministers of Barbados

Make an interesting list,

Beginning with PM Errol Barrow

It went like this.

1966-1976

Well, Barrow was the first

As afore stated

And he was the best ever PM

By a majority rated.

 

Free secondary education

And National Insurance Security

Were two major policies

Facilitating social mobility.

 

Father of Independence,

An appellation given to him

When on November 30th, 1966,

The Monarchy was trimmed.

 

England’s flag was lowered

And our national flag was raised

And to Prime Minister Barrow

Was given the praise.

 

 

1976 -1985

 

Next in line was PM Tom Adams,

The son of Sir Grantley,

Who built on Barrow’s foundation

Bringing more prosperity.

 

Barrow had two terms

With Tom Adams also two

Before Barrow took over again

And his endeavor renewed.

 

1986-1987

 

Tom Adams died in office

And so too did Errol Barrow

Bringing to the people of Barbados

Two occasions to sorrow.

 

Barbados was privileged

To have two of the best

In Prime Ministers Barrow and Adam

To be followed by the rest.

 

PM Bernard St. John was next

After Prime Minister Adams’ demise

But with Barrow’s renewed endeavor,

His efforts were brushed aside.

 

 

 

1985-1986

 

St. John, our first caretaker PM,

Was unable to sustain Adam’s momentum

And lost his seat to a virtual unknown

In the very next general election.

 

I986-1987

 

This saw Barrow at the helm again

But only into his second year,

The country was thrown into mourning

When he suddenly passed away.

 

Not as distinctive as PM’s 1 & 2

Was PM Erskine Sandiford’s tenure,

He took over from PM Errol Barrow

As caretaker Prime Minister.

 

 

1987-1994

 

He went on to win at the polls

In the general election of 1991

But before the five years were up,

He and the Dems were gone.

 

Losing a no-confidence motion,

PM Sandiford called a general election,

There ended his political career

Via the electorate’s rejection.

 

Next up was PM Owen Arthur:

He too had a long stint,

He served three consecutive terms

With a resolve like flint.

 

 

1994-2008

Arthur was immensely popular

And very down to earth,

Like Barrow he was a regionalist

Protecting the Caribbean turf.

 

Some described PM Arthur

As Barrow & Adams morphed into one

And with him at the helm

There was much national reform.

 

Unlike PM Barrow, he failed

To get a fourth bite at the cherry

But his were two very strong terms

And the third fell away gradually.

 

This opened the door for the PM

With a very unenviable run,

I refer to Prime Minister David Thompson

Whose tenure was so soon done.

 

 

2008-2010

Two years were assigned to him

And after that he was gone,

The shortest term for an elected PM

And PM Thompson was that one.

 

The third PM to die in office:

In October, 2010, he passed away,

And so too began the Dems’ demise

From that very day.

 

It signaled the fall of the Dems

As a competitive political party

For, though they won the next election,

It was the narrowest of majorities.

 

It was a 16 to 14 close call

That could have gone the other way

In a very close St Philip battle

That had saved the day.

 

 

 

And so, PM Freundel Stuart,

Who became our third caretaker PM,

Eked out a second term for the Dems

But this was fraught with problems.

 

2010-2018

 

Not least was his leadership,

Once refer to as the sleeping giant,

His Cabinet Ministers were in disarray

And few of them seemed compliant.

 

His tenure was the most unenviable

Culminating in the Dems’ worst defeat

When in that 2018 general election,

None of his candidates won a seat.

 

Mia Mottley’s BLP ran rampant

Taking all thirty available seats

Making her our first female PM

And she still is even as we speak.

 

 

2018-

 

This was not a one-off feat

As PM Mia Mottley did it again in 2022

Whereupon the Dems are wondering

If there is anything they can do.

 

One of PM Mottley’s achievements

Was during the COVID-19 pandemic,

Not afraid to take unpopular decisions

She used a brake and gas mix.

 

In her oft repeated words,

I know how to use brakes and gas,

At times she would yield a little

But pressed the brakes just as fast.

 

That Barbados is now a republic

Is an accomplishment of PM Mottley

And not only is she recognized locally

But regionally and internationally.

 

From PM Barrow to PM Adams,

From PM St. John to PM Sandiford,

The ship of state, at different rates,

Has been marching onward.

 

From PM Arthur to PM Thompson

From PM Stuart to PM Mottley;

A total of eight Prime Ministers thus far,

Crafting our country’s destiny.

 

We received sad news just yesterday

Of the passing of Prime Minister # 4,

As you would observe from my poem’s list,

This is PM Erskine Sandiford.

 

 

Only PM Stuart remains alive

Of all our former Prime Ministers,

The last before PM Erskine Sandiford,

Was PM Owen Arthur.

 

Condolences to Sir Lloyd's family

And all of his far-flung friends,

We thank God for him and all the rest

 And with that this poem ends.

 

Stewart Russell © June 27, 2023

 

As in the Old so in the New

 

 

She did as she liked

And ruled with an iron hand

And when her husband was depressed

She claimed another’s land.

 

She had him stoned and slain

And boasted about his death

Then she said to her husband

You can add that to your wealth.

 

She found it rather strange

That a king could be depressed

And that something that he wanted

Could give him so much stress.

 

 

She even scared a prophet

And made him run and hide,

He had slain her false prophets

That her table had supplied.

 

 

She set a watch upon his life

He must die within a day

And when he heard the dreadful news

He took to his heels and ran away.

 

It still remains a mystery

After his victory at Mount Carmel

How the faith of this great prophet

To such staggering depths fell.

 

Such was the fear for this woman

She could frighten any man,

Even her husband seemed to fear her

Though he benefitted from her plan.

 

Her husband was very wicked

But she was incomparably worse,

To come up on her wrong side

Was to be afflicted with a curse.

 

She stirred the king to wickedness

The description the Bible used

And all who dared to oppose her

Their life they were sure to lose.

 

She even killed some of the prophets

And planned to exterminate more

Such that a hundred had to be hidden,

This queen was vexing sore.

 

But the end comes for all

Whether they be good or bad

And the end for this Old Testament queen

Turned out to be very sad.

 

It was prophesied how she would die

A very horrible death indeed,

How as her body lay in the street

The dogs would on it feed.

 

 

That’s exactly how she died

Confirming the prophecy in full,

All that was left after the dogs did eat

Were her feet, her palms and skull.

 

Let me hasten to establish

As in the Old so in the New,

We shall learn of a New Testament king

That like this queen had a similar view.

 

This king was no different

And ruled with an iron hand

He lived an adulterous life

With the wife of another man.

 

The thing that made it worse

Was that it was his brother’s wife

And the prophet of that time

Rebuked him for this strife.

 

He wanted to kill the prophet

But decided to have him imprisoned,

He feared what the people would do

If such to this prophet should happen.

 

It happened on his birthday

While watching his niece dance

He was so enthralled by her

That he took a reckless chance.

 

He impetuously offered her

Anything for which she wished,

She requested that he give to her

The prophet’s head on a dish.

 

This was her mother’s wish,

She wanted the prophet dead

And though the king showed sorrow

He called for the prophet’s head.

 

 

The prophet’s head was removed

And paraded on a platter,

You could well imagine at that time

The astonishment and the chatter.

 

It was this very same king

Before whom the Lord had stood

That mocked him and arrayed him

In royal kingly duds.

 

He had hoped to see a miracle

Because of the things he had heard

And he questioned him repeatedly

But the Lord answered not a word.

 

This king attacked the fledgling church

At its very early stage,

He was bent on wiping it out

In his anger and his rage.

 

He sought to kill the apostles

And succeeded in the case of one,

Another whom he had imprisoned

Escaped before the light of dawn.

 

So perplexed was he at this

That he left for another territory,

The embarrassment was so much

That it bruised his dignity.

 

 

One day while arrayed in royal apparel

He sat upon his throne

The people regaled him with praise

That should have been God’s alone.

 

They, speaking of this king

Said his was the voice of a god,

He made no attempt to stop them

But basked in the glory like a fraud.

 

Immediately he was struck

By the angel of the Lord,

According to the Word he was punished

For not giving the glory to God.

 

He was eaten of worms

Of such there was nothing to boast

And eventually according to the Word

He had given up the ghost.

 

The word to us all is to remember

We’re not a law unto ourselves,

God is the only sovereignty

Not an amulet on our shelves.

 

This life is not ours forever

Whether king or pauper we may be,

The lesson of these two should teach us

To live life accordingly.

 

Stewart Russell © April 2018