Poetry and Pan

 

 

Poetry and pan is where we are at

Poetry and pan, that’s a fact

Poetry and pan we play and you chat

Poetry and pan just an ad

And we’ll be right back

 

Come and hear the versatile Mark Forde

An anointed pan-man of that I am sure

With that pan of his he’ll give you a treat

You’ll be back time and again

Just to hear him play some more

 

Hear the poets at the Lodge Road church

Tinker with rhyme, rhythm and so much more

Poems of humour and some serious too

Poems of all descriptions

From the Lodge Road crew

 

Poetry and pan is what we’ll share

Poetry and pan is just what you’ll hear

Poetry and pan you won’t regret you came

But if you do

You’ll just have me to blame

 

After that ad let me see if I can unravel

The intricacies of poetry with which we grapple

Then I’ll take a try at pan though not an expert

Starting right now I hope I won’t divert

 

 

Poetry is a medium of expression

Just like music, drama, dance and art

These four along with a few others

Are each a part of the art forms chart

 

Poetry holds a special place

 Because of its rhyme and rhythm

It can give insight into so many things

Including religious beliefs, cults and schisms

 

It can depict an emotion

Or reflect a mood

It can make one happy

Or cause one to brood

 

It can teach a lesson

Or simply narrate a tale

It can grab one’s attention

Often without fail

 

I use it often

In so many ways

There is no chance of boredom

It can fill one’s days

 

Many a Bible story

I have used it to express

But I have also employed it

And many issues addressed

 

Most of my poems are long

And reading them takes time

But they can provide temporary escape

From the daily grind

 

They can be read quicker

Than a long drawn out story

They’re even easier on the eyes

And most of the time less dreary

 

So three cheers for poetry

And three hurrahs too

And a rousing round of applause

For what poetry can do

 

 

Pan is an instrument

Made from an old steel drum

Marked out and beaten; pun intended

They make sweet music, not just bum-bum

 

Two rubber end sticks

In the skilled hands of a pan-man

Such music can heat you up

Or cool you down like a fan

 

It can generate in you

All kinds of emotions

Especially when played by one

Who shows dedication and devotion

 

It can soothe the inner beast

Or wake one from slumber

Depending on whether it’s fast pace

Or the occasional slow number

 

 

 

One pan can be so sweet

And two even sweeter

Like a soprano pan and alto

Or Even soprano and tenor

 

Sometimes there are several

With four part harmonies

Sounding just like an orchestra

O that’s a thing of beauty!

 

Pan is one of the sweetest instruments

You’ll ever hear play

And in the hands of a pan-man

Man that would make your day

 

From classical music

To “spooge “and “reggae”

All of the Caribbean rhythms

The pan-man can play

 

Violins and guitars sound sweet

The piano and organ too

But none sound as sweet as pan

That is this writer’s view

 

So when you hear the pan

Don’t put it down

For to do so is an injustice

That makes you look like a clown

 

 

We are Caribbean people

And pan is a Caribbean thing

Would somebody please strike a pan

And let us start to sing?

 

Poetry and pan is good going together

Poetry and pan is great for any weather

Poetry and pan whether it’s rain or sun

At times it’ll be serious but we’ll also have fun

 

Give me poetry and pan; give me some today

Poetry and pan is here to stay

Poetry and pan is the Caribbean way

Poetry and pan are the art-forms on display

 

Stewart Russell © September 2017

 

Artificial Intelligence

 

It appears our intelligence is waning

Hence, the need for a reliable backup

Not like the God-given type we have

That one is running out of luck.

 

For given the way we operate

We are desperately in need of luck,

For that is the only facility

That can get us out of this muck.

 

Let me go back to the beginning

When God created man,

From the ground He fashioned him

With His almighty hand.

 

What a lovely piece of sculpture

But he was merely dirt and cold,

Then God added His very own breath

And man became a loving soul.

 

 

In His own image and likeness

God created man,

Created for His own pleasure

For His purpose and His plan.

 

With the ability to think and implement

And given dominion over the earth,

To produce of his kind and likeness

And to do so through natural birth.

 

This soon was not enough

For man made a mess of everything

And contravening the Creator’s command

Introduce all life to suffering.

 

A long ride from then till now

And man has made himself a god,

Just like in Eden, Eve was promised

By Satan, the greatest ever Fraud.

 

 

His aim is to create a human

And give to him artificial intelligence

And nothing short of God’s intervention

With curb man’s persistence.

 

Artificial intelligence, however,

Is a contradiction of sorts

For without a conscience and emotion

It will naturally abort.

 

A machine is all it will be

However comprehensive man’s plan,

Even with the technology at his disposal

It will be a product of finite man.

 

Deep Blue is a chess computer

But possesses no spirit to devotion

And whether it wins or loses

It is entirely without fuss or emotion.

 

 

So artificial, I will give machines that

But intelligence is a straight up zero percent,

When machines can reach that level

Then they also will be able to repent.

 

You see, when God breathe into man

Man became a total package,

That is why when he dies

There is nothing we can salvage.

 

From the spirit the physical emerged

Not the other way around,

Man is attempting the impossible

That’s why he is failure bound.

 

 

Machines and robots are all right

Once they improve the quality of life

But could they ever become like man

We would be headed for more strife.

 

They too would want to take over

Just like how man disregards his Creator,

And the outcome could very well be

That man would be his own eliminator.

 

Such cannot happen with God

He is not like finite man,

He is omnipotent and omniscient

And he will accomplish His every plan.

 

Stewart Russell © November 2019