Building Nationhood

 

 

No man is an island

Is not mere cliché

For it takes a dedicated people

Pulling the same way.

 

A country divided

Is sure to fall

But He who pulls it together

Is Almighty God.

 

No party is a Nation

But the people are,

They are the engine that propels

As in a motorcar.

 

True democracy is:

Dueling, cut and thrust

Though not by any means to death

But common in purpose.

 

 

 

Building Nationhood

Is the singular purpose,

It’s practising the kind of democracy

We can trust.

 

Eradication of opposition

Is at most tyranny,

For it neither builds nor develops

Any country.

 

But rather, it destroys

And it pulls down

And causes its citizens to carry

A quizzical frown.

 

Replete with nepotism

It takes care only of its own

Among whom the fatted calf is divided

Minus the bones.

 

If minus the bones

Portrays an undertone

To which you may take offence,

Then you're not alone.

 

 

 

Building Nationhood is

Having each other’s back

And depicts a degree of selflessness

That keeps all on track.

 

It is looking out for all

Especially the vulnerable

And creating for challenged persons

A life that is livable.

 

The academic and artisan,

Architect and engineer,

Sanitation workers and domestics:

To them all be fair.

 

Make an honest dollar.

Spend but also save

And help someone in dire need

Whom God also made.

 

A word to the shootists

And to all gun importers:

Please get involved in Nation building

As responsible voters.

 

A word to those officials

That turn a blind eye:

You may very well be contributing

To why so many die.

 

Especially our youth

More often by the gun

And a life full of promise and hope

Sadly done.

 

 

 

And to the Government

Of our fair land, Bim,

It is time to increase productivity

And cut borrowing.

 

Give greater incentive

To those that produce

So that we increase our exports

And imports reduce.

 

It is harder to repay

Than to borrow

And we know not of the vagaries

Inside tomorrow.

 

Build with God

With heart and with hands

And let your promised manifesto

Be the working plan.

 

Happy 59th, Barbados!

As we look towards 60,

May each Barbadian take his place

As a Nation building trusty.

 

 

 

Building Nationhood

For generations to come

So they too may acknowledge us

For a race well run.   

 

Stewart Russell © November 29, 2025

 

A Compendium of Problems

 

 

Life is really a problem

With many a problem involved

Hence, we must be problem solvers

If we must get life solved.

 

It’s not for the faint of heart

That give up so easily,

Instead, it will take much courage

To compete successfully.

 

 

It’s a compendium of problems

That the living has to solve,

A turntable of problems maybe

Around which life revolves.

 

Time is of the essence

Which in itself is a problem,

So that haste must be made sensibly

To find its adequate solutions.

 

It has been proven suicidal

To many a competitor

Who, having been overwhelmed,

Became a no-survivor.

 

 

Life is a veritable minefield

Even from life-conception

And gynecologists are on red alert

Bent on problem detection.

 

From the womb to the tomb,

This is the nature of life

And it takes problem solving skills

To manage its varied strife.

 

It’s a compendium of problems

For some, more than others

And without the luck of the draw

It can be a colossal bother.

 

That’s why it is necessary

To have Jesus in one’s life,

For with the infinite problem solver

We can navigate the strife.

 

 

It is not the problems of life

But invariably how to navigate,

There is a much better chance for us

If on Jesus we wait.

 

Stewart Russell © June 16, 2024

 

Out of Sorts

 

Carrying a weight

Feeling hate

Has been for a spate

Just won’t dissipate

 

Having headaches

In an awful state

Fed-up here of late

Nothing to celebrate

 

Fretting about the rain

When it’s sunny, complain

Everything’s a drain

It’s constant strain

 

Little or no taste

No hurry no haste

Routine cut and paste

Just another face

 

In prison in chains

Going counter-grain

No song or refrain

Just like Cain

 

 

Afraid to hope

Unable to cope

Down a slippery slope

Headed for a rope

 

Who can advise?

Feeling despised

Anticipating reprise

Wearing a disguise

 

If this is you

Then you must be blue

But here’s another view

And one that’s true

 

He hears you

And sees you too

He knows everything

You are going through

  

He is not unaware

He is right there

He has made it clear

He knows your fear

 

 

 

Whisper Jesus

That glorious name

Yesterday and today

He is still the same

 

He beckons to you

Before life is passed

Every burden you have

On him to cast

 

He is able

In fact, more than able

Even in uncertainty

To make you stable

 

Trust him today

Come what may

Give him full sway

Do not turn away

 

Stewart Russell © July 2019

 

Don’t Get Confused

 

 

A sign is not the reality

Neither a symptom the problem

But it is at the back end

That we treat to both of them.

 

Jesus in Matthew 24

Spoke about many a sign

But the signs were not the end

As he did remind.

 

Matthew 24:6

 

And ye shall hear of wars

And rumours of wars:

See that ye be not troubled:

For all these things must come to pass,

But the end is not yet.

 

Myriad signs

But the end is not yet,

To confuse signs with the reality

Is to be out of step.

 

We yet look for signs,

I’m not too sure for what

Since the coming Jesus spoke of,

Those back there got.

 

 

That generation, he said,

Would not pass away

And they would see him come again

On a soon to come day.

 

And he gave many signs

That pointed to this reality,

And the Bible shows this clearly

In its fulfilled prophecy.

 

Take note of the signs

But don’t confuse the two,

A sign certainly is not the reality:

This is absolutely true.

 

 

 

A symptom is not the problem

Yet we treat to symptoms,

Panadol and the like we often use

But still, we have the problem.

 

Not only in human illnesses

But in politics as well

And illnesses that beset countries

Is on which we now dwell.

 

The sign of gun prevalence

To us is starkly clear,

It has become a sinister problem

Which many countries fear.

 

More than thirty gun-deaths

In Barbados the past year

Plus, another almost 20 homicides

Driving us to despair.

 

 

Dealing with the outcome

Is like treating to the symptom

But does proportionately very little

Re the cause of the problem.

 

The source of the guns:

Who are bringing them in?

Is there any possibility of discovering

The source of this spring?

 

And if in fact there is,

Why is there this reluctance

To tackle the source of this scourge

With intelligence?

 

 

For every gun that kills

There is obviously a user

But pray tell, how did it get here

Without an importer?

 

The user is the symptom

The importer is the problem,

Are these problems so complex

That none can solve them?

 

A sign is not the reality

Neither a symptom the problem

But it is at the very source of each

That we ought to treat them.

 

Start arresting importers:

They are the source of the spring,

Regardless of status or affiliation

Let the police bring them in.

 

Stewart Russell © March 15, 2025

 

My Address Is…

 

 

Complain Avenue,

Depression Boulevard

In the awful parish of Despair

Where life is very hard.

 

I like to complain

And hold pity parties

Though nobody listens to anybody

And everybody is angry.

 

Disgruntle, my neighbour,

Lives next door

And his wife, Yapping Nag

Is a real bore.

 

Minister Hard-Ears

Is the constituency rep

And he listens every five years;

Otherwise, he is vexed.

 

He’s a busy man

And loves to tell us so,

Not at election time though;

That’s when he’ll show.

 

My area is very quiet

Except for the noise

From the yapping complainers

Void of poise.

 

We are a contented lot

Never mind we complain

And we are used to death mutes

That numb our pain.

 

 

 

Almost thirty years

At Complain Avenue,

I have seen nothing change

Except for the view.

 

Where there was grass

Is now forested

And the vermin that live there

Have us frustrated.

 

There are rats and mice,

A mongoose or two,

And monkeys are taking over

Complain Avenue.

 

 

Well, we routed them

But now they are fighting back,

All is fair in love and war;

Give them some slack.

 

I like the Prime Minister

Boy, she can talk,

Busses coming soon but until,

You’d have to walk.

 

The garbage trucks lost

At least, it looks so

Though not so the garbage tax;

This continues to grow.

 

The sewage tax too

For people with a well,

Peter pays for Paul; Paul pays for all,

I guess that’s swell.

 

 

 

Stop complaining!

I hear you, man

But that’s where I live, yea:

Me and my clan.

 

If I stop complaining

I would go mad,

I get a warp feeling of satisfaction

And this is not all bad.

 

That ends this edition

Of satisfactory complaining,

Minister Hard-Ears hard of hearing

And won’t be listening.

 

Complain Avenue,

Depression Boulevard

In the awful parish of Despair

Where life is very hard.

 

Stewart Russell © November 1, 2024

 

The Most Important Book

 

 

If I were to ask you

What’s the most important book,

Your answer would depend

On your personal outlook.

 

But the most important book

Is not a book at all,

For though referred to as a book,

It is really a record.

 

Maybe I have lost you

On account of not making sense

But I assure you it’s not foolishness

And I mean no offense.

 

Highest on most people’s list

May be the Holy Bible

And I would be inclined to agree

The Bible is not trivial.

 

It is of colossal importance

And should never be ignored

But there’s one of greater importance

Even when life here is o’er.

 

 

The Bible speaks of it

In the book of Revelation

And in this book alone you will find it

On seven occasions.

 

One other place you’ll find

This most important book,

You can go to Philippians chapter 4

And there have a look.

 

I know you’d want me to give

Not only the chapter but the verse

So, let me point you to verse 3

To satisfy your thirst.

 

With that you can check out

The instances in Revelation

Bearing in mind, as I said previously,

There are seven occasions.

 

A daily report is being made

By the God that knows it all,

Don’t expect a book of gigantic size

But an invisible mental record.

 

Of every deed done in the body

Whether it be bad or good

And while none can achieve this task,

God most certainly could. 

 

 

He does not need a computer

Or a gigantic notepad

But He remembers every single deed

Whether it be good or bad.

 

And the books were opened

And then another book

And the dead were judged of those things

That were written in the books.

 

And whoever was not found

Written in the Lamb’s book of life

Was cast in to the fiery lake

Of torment and strife.

 

That Lamb’s book of life

Is the most important book,

For all who’ve ignored it, I adjure you

To take another look.

 

 

Is your name written there?

Inquires a wonderful hymn,

Only the names of the born again

Are entered therein.

 

Stewart Russell © June 3, 2025

 

Integrity Legislation

 

 

Integrity legislation was promised

By successive governments

And their many passionate speeches

Spoke of genuine intent.

 

It was felt that thievery

Had to be brought to a halt

Since the very last Government

Was mostly at fault.

 

They had done their utmost

To become filthy rich

And in their obsession with wealth

They hadn’t missed a trick.

 

Thus, the current Government

Like the two before

Promised to do much better but since,

Has done no more.

 

 

 

Two bites at the cherry

And two thirty-loves after

There is still no integrity legislation

Bar scorn and laughter.

 

No public declaration

Certainly, as far as I know,

Therefore, like all the ones before them,

They are a no-show.

 

Prior to Elections 2018

A promise was made

To bring to justice those found guilty

But this, to no avail.

 

The USA did even better

Regarding a certain allegation

And a former DLP Cabinet Minister

Was actually imprisoned.

 

But nothing was uncovered

By the present Government

And the proposed integrity legislation

Is still an elusive event.

 

 

 

From the Tom Adams era

And that of Arthur and Stuart,

I have no doubt integrity legislation

Influenced the vote.

 

    One public declaration

Was a private one

Declared to the then Prime Minister

Who is long gone.

 

 

 

Another PM declared his,

Raising some doubts

But his MPs did not follow through,

Showing some clout.

 

They did not have to

Since it wasn’t the law

And the info omitted by the PM,

Only he saw.

 

 

 

Hundred-day promises

Also went abegging

And up to now in twenty-twenty-five

Legislation is still lagging.

 

When will it come about?

Hold not your breath

For holding one’s breath too long

Is flirting with death.

 

Who will guard the guards?

Hopefully, the Law,

But a law that is yet to be passed,

Only highlights a flaw.

 

 

 

Integrity legislation

Is really about integrity,

If one has something one wants to hide,

It will cause one misery.

 

What other reason

Can anyone come up with

For integrity legislation still lacking

And so far, is a myth?

  

Two bites at the cherry

With a third drawing nigh,

If you favour this legislation, say “Yea”

And “Nay” if it you decry.

 

My wish for Independence

Anniversary number 59 is:

Please bring the integrity legislation

Promised a long time.

 

Stewart Russell ©November 18, 2025