Like A Wild Fire

 

 

All was going well

Or so we thought,

When all of a sudden, a spark,

Before they fought.

 

The spark was small,

Almost indistinguishable,

But the driving wind made it

Almost inextinguishable.

 

A little misunderstanding;

Neither willing to give in,

From thence emerged a battle

That both had to win.

 

If they had reflected,

If only they had paused

It would not have gone so far

Considering the cause.

 

Too small to remember

In light of the prize,

For one combatant to win

One must be downsized.

 

 

The cause has receded

And there is now a new bent:

To win this raging dispute

Is the other’s intent.

 

At times it died down

As though finally diminished

But one of them stoked the fire

As if to say, it’s not finished.

 

Male and female

In a verbal combat,

Neither prepared to give in:

Both on the attack.

 

From the trivial

To the highly non-sensical,

This purposeless verbal battle

Between two adult people.

 

From a little spark

That should have died right then

To a raging inferno

And a huge problem.

 

Out of control

With no end in sight,

Two incensed combatants

In a verbal fight.

 

 

 

A clear-the-air here:

It was not me and the wife,

Our quarrels are usually

A two-minute strife.

 

Particularly because

I am getting old

And before I get heated up

I usually run cold.

 

Take that, my friend,

In whatever way you like,

But my present age makes me

Too old to fight.

 

Plus, I had my share

A very long time ago

When the wife always emerged

The winner of the show.

 

 

Wild fires and quarrels

Should be kept at bay,

Douse them both at the start-up

By turning away.

 

The flare-up finally ended

But a lot had been said,

And there was much to sort out

Before going to bed.

 

If only one had not

Continued stoking that fire

Both would be on firm ground

Instead of the mire.

 

This was you and I

At one time or another:

A dispute, a quarrel, a noise…

Like a wild fire.

 

Stewart Russell © June 5, 2023

 

The Other Side

 

 

Always another side:

Can we agree on this?

Else there’s something fundamental

We have missed.

 

Two sides to a story;

At the very least

And of course, there is the truth

That can never cease.

 

In the prequel to this:

“Panic Setting In”,

I presented the Democrat’s side

In the midst of the din.

 

A tumult it was

As the Democrats reflected

On what was a colossal loss

They least expected.

 

The end of the world-

Democrats’ world at least,

For the mesmerizing Beauty

Was taken by the Beast.

 

 

 

In the Democrat’s view

But not Republicans;

No, this was a time for rejoicing

For all Trump fans.

 

Not the end of the world

But a beginning

And in the days and years ahead

They will be singing.

 

Illegal immigrants!

The border will be closed,

No longer will they come across

Unopposed.

 

And those now there

Will be deported

Of course, unless they can show

“Document supported”.

 

The wars will end:

At least Russia and Ukraine

And this action will be achieved

In Donald Trump’s name.

 

The economy will be fixed

As it was in twenty-sixteen,

After all, unlike the intervening years,

Trump is on the scene.

 

 

 

America will be great,

Greater than ever before

And all because Trump run things

The country will soar.

 

Soar like the eagle

High up in the air

Such that America’s enemies

Will tremble with fear.

 

None would dare oppose

Or contradict

And Trump will be supported

By poor and rich.

 

For power is right

And the right to enforce

All that is great for America

Of course!

 

Thus, the other side

Of the same coin, indeed,

And when the narrative unfolds,

Same channel same feed!

 

They know their own

And are known by them

And when in bed together

It’s not a problem.

 

The pawns will quarrel

And become concerned

Knowing as collateral damage

They will get burn. 

 

But the proverbial cat

Will land on its feet

Once President Donald Trump

Has the White House seat.

 

As in “Panic Setting In”

Let me again state

What has been my position

Long before here of late.

 

I am neither Republican

Nor Democrat

But just one trying to decipher

Between opinion and fact.

 

Stewart Russell © November 14, 2024

 

Boiling Kettle Mystery

 

 

My kettle never boils

But I am glad

For I can tell you, if it uses to

That would be bad.

 

How do we know

When a kettle is boiling?

Silly old cow, as if you don’t know,

By the noise it is making.

 

Who is the silly one

I would dare enquire,

Because my friend, believe you me,

It would be on fire.

 

How oft do we hear

“The kettle is boiling!”

But if this were really true

That would be annoying.

 

Think of the money

We would have to spend,

For just one time on the fire

Would be the end.

 

Of the kettle

If you see what I mean,

A boiling kettle is a nightmare:

A very bad dream!

 

Let’s hope the water is boiling

And not the kettle

Though after the water is gone out

It will start on the metal.

 

Stewart Russell © November 16, 2024

 

Intolerant of Intolerance

 

 

Of what are we intolerant

If not intolerance

And thus, re the same charges we level,

We lack repentance.

 

It’s not just a lifestyle

That we want to embrace

But that we also want to evangelize

Others to our own taste.

 

Thus, minority groups

Want amendments to the Law

To permit them full and free practice

Of acts perceived as flawed.

Such acts to be nameless

For the purpose of this poem

Such that my intolerance of intolerance

Don’t become a problem.

 

As if this were not enough

They want a right to theirs

And thus, move that a law be passed

To eradicate your cares.

 

You must accept me

Though I don’t accept you

And this must be in the Constitution

To protect my view.

 

You are therefore guilty

Of what you accuse me

And wanting a law to vindicate you

Is ludicrous insanity.

 

I will tell you what, though,

We already have that,

“Different strokes for different folks”

And this is a daily fact.

 

 

“All are equal under the Law”

Is mostly for common folk

For to see bigwigs brought to justice

Is nothing short of a joke.

 

I am intolerant of you

As you are intolerant of me

But when the Law permits depravity

That will be the death of me.

 

Stewart Russell © August 11, 2024

 

Mostly Bajan Sayings Volume 2

 

 

There are some bajan sayings

That we use each and every day

We have come to associate them

With the bajan way.

 

Some are peculiar to Barbadians

Some to the wider Caribbean

Some, unless I miss my guess,

May be from the world scene.

 

“Bones mekking whistle”

Meaning he long time dead

And you still breaking your heart

Rather than moving on instead.

 

“If yuh ain’t got horse

Ride cow.”

It’s better to use what’s available

And manage somehow.

 

“Follow pattern kill Cadogan”

And it could also kill you,

“Everything my monkey do

You do too.”

 

You time gine come

Yuh better hear wha I suh

Cause “wha ain’t pass yuh

Ain’t miss yuh.”

 

 

You got out of a hard spot

And went right back to it?

Why, “only a dog

Does return to ‘e vomit.”

 

“As yuh land

Yuh come ashore.”

You put on your new shirt

As soon as it come outta de store.

 

“Ya cud tek me outta Bim

But ya can’t tek Bim outta me.”

Don’t care where I go

Bajan is what you will see.

 

“White mout fowl does eat

And then wipe ‘e mout in the grass.”

What the ungrateful gets

Never seems to last.

 

“Don’t tek a six for a nine”,

“Gih you an inch, you wan’ tek an ‘L’”

Better be careful how far you go

I en got to buy wha you sell.

 

“Yuh got a plaster for every sore”

Yuh playin’ yuh bright,

Keep doin’ whuh yuh doing

And I gine show yuh de light.

 

“Little children shouldn’t play

Wid sharp-edged tools”,

If you think this mean a knife

You would have to be a fool.

 

“Lime juice nevah spoil vinegar”

In fact, you worse than me,

Compared with what you does do

I am rather saintly.

 

“Self-pity ain’t no pity”,

Let someone else pity you,

Such pitying would be far better

If it is another’s view.

 

 

Be careful with children!

“Small pigeon got wide earhole”,

And especially children of today

They can be quite bold.

 

“Water does run

But blood does clot”,

You may come between two friends

But family? You better not!

 

“Wha’ in de ol’ goat in de kiddy”,

“De berry don’t fall far from de tree”,

He fahduh before he was just like dat

So, he definitely like he daddy.

 

 

“Yuh socks want pulling up”

“Straighten up and fly right”

Or else yuh gine fine yuhself in a hole

Whey yuh gine ketch real fright.

 

Yuk look like yuh force ripe

And you is only ten,

Yuh better be very careful

Wid dem signals yuh does send.

 

Yuh got more tricks than a monkey

But dem tricks gine turn to bricks

And wha yuh tink is sugar

Gine really be grit.

 

Well these are far fewer

Than the first volume I wrote

But I trust that by now you know

That “fun en always sport”.

 

I tried not to repeat

Any from the volume 1 set

But yuh know I en perfect

So I won’t tek that bet.

 

If you find some more

You could send them to me,

Who knows? They might be enough

To compile volume three.

 

Stewart Russell © August 10, 2023

 

Panic Setting In

 

 

It’s the best of times

And the worst of times,

Garbage put Trump over the top

And the loser whines.

 

Panic is setting in

For they expect the worst

Since with Trump on the throne

It’s like a curse.

 

He is anti-Blacks

And anti-Asians too,

Anti-Latinos, and anti-Mexicans

Is a popular view.

 

Rise, Ku Klux Klan!

It’s your time to shine,

With Donald Trump at the helm

It is your time.

 

The illegal must go

The Whites are saying

For the “Great Again America”

We are building.

 

This is quite in sync

With Trump’s sentiment:

To make America Great Again

His sole intent.

 

A glance at history

Tells us when this was

For when America was great

Blacks were judged.

 

 

Judged to be slaves

Or at most cotton pickers,

No better than despised snakes

That on their belly slither.

 

Second class citizens

With freedom curtailed,

And when agitating for rights

They mostly failed.

 

Panic is setting in,

Here comes the curse

And the Democrat supporters

Think he is the worst.

 

A one-man rule:

Alias Donald Trump!

Garbage voters put him in

So, USA is a dump.

 

The end of the World

Is around the bend;

Donald Trump and his minions

Will be the end.

 

With a rod of iron

The Whites will rule

And America will be great again

And all will be cool.

 

 

True for Republicans

But not for Democrats,

The end of the World is coming

Now that Trump is back.

 

The end of elections:

That is for sure,

With Donald Trump as President

No need for more.

 

America will become

The Trump Towers again

Though from the White House

Donald Trump will reign.

 

Please be advised

That this is just a view,

It is categorically not mine!

How about you?

 

I don’t know enough

Re one side or the next,

And consequently, I am ignorant

Of the real context.

 

But what I do know

There seems to be panic

And there are many who believe

Americans are sick.

 

Stewart Russell © November 14, 2024

 

No “I” or Me in Team

 

 

No “I” in team

But a me if you jumble it up,

Whatever way you look at it

I or me still sucks.

 

Emphasis on the I

Is just as bad as the me,

Neither is good for team spirit

Since team always says we.

 

When will we get it:

Those immersed in the I?

Team doesn’t work well with one

However hard ones try.

 

 

Take a team of oxen

Under the same yoke,

If one of them should suddenly fall,

The other suffers a stroke.

 

Not literally so

But practically, I should add,

For the two being yoked together

Become essentially bad.

 

No “I” in team at all,

No “me” if you jumble it,

It’ll just be meat for all opposing:

Even for the misfit.

 

The notable I and me

Destroy teams from within

And anything that is salvaged

Goes to a her or him.

 

The only unit in a team

Is the very team itself

And all the narrow self-interest

Will ruin a team’s health.

 

 

So, no I or me in team

In no fashion, form or shape,

Any argument to the contrary

We should never take.

 

All together as one

To make a single unit,

Working for the common good

With a single remit.

 

Stewart Russell © October 25, 2024

 

Life

 

 

Life is a journey

Right here on earth,

It concludes at death

But begins at birth.

 

For some it’s long

For others it’s short

And when it’s real rough

Some even abort.

 

Baby to toddler

Primary to teen

Adolescence and adult

Different acts and scenes.

  

Jobs and careers

Familial responsibilities

Occasional pleasures

But mostly duties

 

Mostly humdrum

Of rituals and routines

The occasional surprise

Disappointments between

 

 Very tough at times

Sometimes smooth

Both young and old

Trying to find a groove

 

Death and dying

Not easy at all,

 Not much we can do

The grim reaper calls.

 

C’est la vie

As the French would say,

That is life

Each and every day.

 

 

From the womb

To the tomb

But that’s not all

So stay tuned.

 

Life to death

From death to life,

Jesus is coming

To end all strife.

 

The dead shall rise

The living too,

When Jesus comes

For me and you.

 

Christ is ours

If we’re born again,

And eternal life

When he shall reign.

 

 

Life here and now

And life hereafter,

That’s the promise

Of the Master.

 

Why die

When you can live?

Come to Jesus

And life he will give.

 

Stewart Russell (c) July 2019