Playing Games

 

 

Ever watched a game

Between a lizard and a cat

And realized from the beginning

The lizard was trapped?

 

The lizard gets its freedom

And the cat takes it back

And this goes on for a little while

Controlled by the cat.

 

It happens with mice too

Involving the cat as well,

Must be the cat and mouse game

Of which many tell.

 

 

It is a tragic game

For the lizards and mice

For as we all know so very well

The outcome is not nice.

 

This game ends in death

For the unfortunate prey,

The cat always being the predator

At the end of the day.

 

An application can be made

In relation to life

Where some people treat others

As though they were mice.

 

They become playthings

And then they are discarded

Becoming the scum of the earth

Or at least so regarded.

 

It is a game for some

But it’s death for another

And those in their ivory towers

Don’t have to bother.

 

 

Those with the guns

Terrorize those without

And the people who bring them in

Have great clout.

 

They must have

Or else, explain to me

Why little people are always caught

But no big body.

 

It’s not only with the guns

But with the drugs also

When the prey is taken into custody

And the predators nah show.

 

For a little while

The prey may escape

But at some time sooner or later

Some become the late.

 

 

Freedom is snatched away

And some rot in jail,

That is, if they are not fortunate

To put up the bail.

 

Predator and prey:

This is the deadly game

Perhaps much better understood

By the cat and mouse name.

 

 

The games we play

Are really death for some,

Toying with the poor and vulnerable

For me is not fun.

 

It’s fun for the predator

But death for the vulnerable

And how ever one may look at it

It is fraught with trouble.

 

Stewart Russell © March 11, 2025

 

The Cellphone Camera

 

 

Something about a camera

That I appreciate:

It captures where you point it

It does not differentiate.

 

Quite obedient I suppose

It gets the job done,

It doesn’t shirk responsibility

And can provide much fun.

 

It has come a long way

From many years ago

But even though primitive

It created quite a show.

 

Quite a lot was left

To the photographer then,

He was the master

Behind the camera lens.

 

 

Today it is so different

Even in the simplest cellphone

And everyone’s a photographer

Once one they own.

 

From stills to videos

Any story they can create,

And that is the chief reason

Why the camera I appreciate.

 

Now given the Internet

These stories can go viral,

In a flash they can be communicated

To a world of people.

 

We should understand therefore

That such technology

Should be handled with care

And much responsibility.

 

 

What an amazing device

A cellphone camera can be!

But in the hands of the lawless

It can cause much misery.

 

It can capture a moment

And later create a panic

When that private behaviour

Is revealed to the public.

 

On these such occasions

The victims are not aware

That their actions are being captured

So they do not fear.

 

But later when they realized

Their secret is exposed

They wish to bury themselves

And pull in the mould.

 

Such cases could range from

From the vile to the criminal,

From a break-and-entering act

To the morally reprehensible.

 

 

Such are the possibilities

Given this modern day facility:

The cellphone camera I mean

With its enormous capabilities.

 

It truly narrows the gap

Between the novice and expert,

It can bring joy to the public

Or it can cause much hurt.

 

This is simply because

Despite its technological pitch

It does not come with

An automatic censoring switch.

 

Something about the camera

That I would like to see change:

A technological advancement

To limit the morally deranged.

 

Such would auger well

To promote its positive use

And stamp out the undesirable

With its flagrant abuse.

 

Stewart Russell © June 2018

 

A Parody of the Doxology

 

 

Blame God from whom all cyclones blow,

Blame him, all creatures here below,

Blame Him, who knocks down church and steeple,

Who sends the floods and drowns the people.

 

Anonymous

 

I ponder on this writer’s worldview

But not for long

For whatever his origins’ position

This view is wrong.

 

Instead

 

 Praise God from whom all blessings flow,

Praise Him, all creatures here below,

Praise Him above the heavenly hosts,

Praise Father, Son ad Holy Ghost.

 

He could be a creationist

Or an evolutionist,

Be it one or the other

There is much he has missed.

 

He may have been joking

Like some of us do,

But somethings you don’t joke about

Is my considered view.

 

People mocked the donkey

From time immemorial

As a result, the following was written

It’s rather satirical.

 

A Parody of the Donkey

 

When fishes walk and forest flew

And figs grew upon thorns,

Some moment when the moon was blood

Then surely, I was born.

 

G. K. Chesterton

 

Just one verse I have written

To define what’s a parody,

It speaks of a time that never was

As the origin of the donkey.

 

Treated with utter contempt

In this some find their humour,

And though the matter be serious

For some it evokes laughter.

 

The frogs were having a swim

One day in a village pool

Along came some village boys

And each became a fool.

 

They began to stone the frogs

And one by one they died,

But a wise old frog opened up his mouth

And the boys’ actions he decried.

 

“What’s fun for you boys Is death to us,”

That wise old frog remarked,

A valued lesson for those young boys

And a very good place to start.

 

 

Some blame God for all that’s wrong

But for the good man gets the praise,

Hence, this parody of the doxology

No need to repeat what it says.

 

I must confess I would be afraid

To refer to God in such a way,

God in evil does not participate

Never in the past or even today.

 

So that parody we will strike out

And go with what we know:

Praise God from whom all blessings flow

Praise Him all creatures here below.

 

Stewart Russell © September 23, 2021