If I Were PM Mia

 

 

If I were PM Mottley

I would do a January again,

I tell you, even to mention this

Causes the DLP pain.

 

Caught in January, 22

With their pants down,

Not a single seat did the DLP win

Second time around.

 

Now four years after

Not much has changed

Apart from greater splintering

And more disarranged.

 

More was expected

With the advent of Thorne

But there was some seismic activity

And the DLP lost its form.

 

Now out of shape

And severely splintered,

There is seemingly no chance

In the immediate future.

 

Hence, my advice to Mia

Is to call the election,

Do not wait, I am advising her,

Until 2027.

 

She will be guaranteed

Another thirty-nil

And five more years until 2031

To have her fill.

 

 

 

Thus, she will be revered

Like Barrow and Arthur:

Both had three successive terms

And lost thereafter.

 

 

 

Then she could go one up

If her life is spared,

Another General Election win 2036

Will move her clear.

 

I must be dreaming

And talking in my sleep,

If you heard me fellow Barbadians,

Please do not repeat.

 

Rather, tell the DLP

To get their act together,

For if this is not to come true

They must do better.

 

Nothing among four

Is nothing at all,

Zero is what the PM would call it;

That is her call. 

 

Zero charge to parents

For free education,

Never mind, of course, there is

Burdensome taxation.

 

Ralphie doesn’t get it

But neither do I

And that I have long left the system,

I cannot deny.

 

 

 

So, Ralphie and Ronnie,

Kemar and Karina,

Please come together and instead,

Fight PM Mia.

 

You might get a few seats,

Maybe four or five

And in memory of Errol Barrow,

Let the DLP survive.

 

For it is about to die

Imploding from within

And prospects for winning a seat

Appear quite dim.

 

 

 

But I am not PM Mia

For she is one of a kind

And she will call the next election

In her own time.

 

Stewart Russell © December 10, 2025

 

Is There Hope?

 

 

Is there hope

For a Parliamentary Opposition

Given the speedy upcoming

General Election?

 

Due in twenty-seven

But could come in twenty-six,

Already the fragmented DLP

Is in a fix.

 

 

 

A four-way split

With the defector Thorne ahead,

The signs point to a DLP

That appears dead.

 

“Dead in the water”,

A term that is occasionally used

Makes for another BLP

Thirty-nil cruise. 

 

 

 

Defector Atherley

And current defector Thorne-

Neither the twain affecting

The BLP’s form.

 

 

 

Hopeless, I would say

But the question I must still ask

Though a different opinion

Is an uphill task.

 

Take the DLP base

That from the polls stay away-

Will they come back out

On election day?

 

And if they do,

For which DLP will they vote?

Please, Barrow DLP’s,

Do take note.

 

Divided, you’ll fall

But united there is a chance,

Mend the broken fences

To advance.

 

Pride is often bad,

The selfish type invariably is

And fragmented attempts

Will surely fizz. 

 

Four pulling differently

Will obviously split the votes

And the DLP will end up

Cutting their throats.

Their own throats,

In case you didn’t understand

And the DLP will continue

In their dream land. 

 

Yet to be awaken

As in the tale, Sleeping Beauty

Still awaiting a prince

For active duty.

 

 

 

Political Opportunists

Join parties that are in power

And now as it stands

It’s BLP hour.

 

Is there hope

For this dismantled DLP?

I would have to say NO!

Most definitely.

 

 

 

Not in twenty-seven

And certainly not in twenty-six,

Not enough time, I’d say,

To find a fix.

 

Stewart Russell © December 8, 2025

 

I’m Asking You

 

 

 

Will we be minority ruled

In more ways than one?

Will democracy be upstaged

Then completely gone?

 

What about voting rights

Because we refuse to vote

With frustration building up

As well as no hope.

 

Very low voter turnout

Least post-Independence,

The electorate no doubt fed-up

With political decadence.

 

Promises undelivered

With excuses of all kinds

And politicians’ trick or treat

Messing with our minds.

 

No parliamentary opposition

For two elections now

And the hope that the DLP

Could win seats somehow.

 

 

Democracy under threat

And elections a long way off

And the Government teeing off

Like they do in golf.

 

What’s good for them

Is hardship for the poor

Whose living standards plummet

More and more.

 

 

Come 2027

When the next poll is due,

Will the electorate turn out?

That’s a question for you.

 

Fewer are participating

In Barbados’ General elections

Producing a minority vote

And much disaffection.

 

Add to all this

A certain militant group

That’s climbing higher and higher

Marshalling its troupes.

 

Finding favour with many

Especially the politicians

Not to mention church leaders

And important persons.

 

 

 

With such drive and support

I ask you again,

Will the majority be displaced

By this minority strain?

 

Some dare not to oppose

That which is wrong

For fear the chances of winning

Would become less strong.

 

The opposition is silent

When they should speak up-

Trying to gain favour with voters

And hopefully some luck.

 

To form the Government

Or win parliamentary seats,

To stop the Barbados Labour Party

From having a 30-nil three-peat.

 

 

 

Will we be minority ruled

Come the next election

With none to oppose

A certain groups’ elevation?

 

I am asking you

And I am asking me too

For we are all in this together:

Both me and you.

 

Stewart Russell © October 30, 2023

 

Your Vote

 

 

Personal, Private & Powerful!

The significance of your vote,

It carries a tremendous responsibility;

Fellow Barbadians, Take note!

 

There is one vote per person:

Only one belongs to you,

It is a personal vote, therefore,

You decide what to do.

 

No one can cast it for you

Hence, you must cast it in person,

And having cast your only vote

For you the matter is done.

 

It is really a private matter

And should be treated as such,

None needs feel they can buy it

It’s not a matter of how much.

 

Make no promises to any one

Your vote is not for sale,

And any who tries to coerce you

Report them without fail.

 

A vote is a powerful medium

In that it gives you a say,

It says that you are important

If only for one day.

 

It’s the power that you have,

Though in a moment it is gone!

Then you must wait for five years

Before you get another one.

 

Unless of course,

With a year and a half short,

The command from the General

Is a command to abort.

 

And so, you get a chance

To cast your vote again,

To elect a totally new Government

Or let the incumbent remain.

 

I am still quite baffled

As to why this election was called,

I heard what the PM said

But that cannot be all.

 

Given the huge vote of confidence

Only three and half years ago,

It is not making sense

But that’s just my say so.

 

A new mandate, in my view,

Was not necessary at this time,

Fulfilling one’s manifesto promises

Must be paramount in one’s mind.

 

Five years is an elected term:

Not one and half years short,

It is like kind of abandoning ship

Or something of that sort.

 

What will a new mandate change?

It is likely to be no change

And whatever it was that occurred,

Is likely to happen again.

 

I trust it won’t be thirty-nil

We can’t take that again,

Too much power in one party’s hand

Is likely to cause us pain.

 

So, B’s cast your votes

And D’s, you cast your votes too,

And all of the other parties

Do what you have to do!

 

And those who are undecided

That is your option too,

Do not let anyone ridicule you

If voting is not your view.

 

Personal, Private & Powerful!

The significance of your vote,

It carries a tremendous responsibility;

Fellow Barbadians, Take note!

 

Stewart Russell © January 14, 2022

It is New Year’s Day!

 

 

It is January 1st, 2022

I am here and so are you,

We give God thanks for another year

When so many have bid us adieu.

 

We haven’t a clue

The path this year will take

But given what we faced last year

It is enough to make us shake.

 

Shake in our boots

With the fear of the unknown

Just like a frightened infant

Taken from his home.

 

 

COVID-19  is still with us

With an Election to come,

The result of which we will know

Before January is done.

 

Most project a result

That is stark obvious to them

But this will not automatically solve

A single problem.

 

Except of course,

For the one in their head:

That fantasy they dream about

As they lie in their bed.

 

The truth be told

It will only get worse,

Unless we seek out the one

Who can rid us of the curse.

 

The problem with the world

Is the curse of sin,

Not over population, scarce resources

Or the colour of one’s skin.

 

These are mere symptoms

Of the fore mentioned root cause,

You can stop clapping

All who mockingly applaud.

 

 

I know some will say

This is a worn-out cliché

But it is no different from saying,

It’s just another day.

 

The scourge of sin’s curse

Is as factual as this day

And no amount of ignoring it

Will turn it away.

 

We can plan and implement

All that we like

But the blind will still be blind

Even in the presence of light.

 

 

It is New Year’s Day!

But in reality, just another day,

Things will continue the same

In the same old way.

 

And Christians will defer too

To even mention sin

Due to its politically incorrectness

And its cliché spin.

 

 

It is New Year’s Day!

Yes! The beginning of this year!

But the banality of the old year

Doth already appear.

 

I wish you the very best year

That you can possibly get

But that wouldn’t mean a thing

If you’re not born again yet.

 

And I think I am hearing

That’s a worn-out cliché too

But I will look past that trite remark

If that’s the best you can do.

 

However, I know differently

Hence, I offer you Christ,

He is the only answer for a world

Gripped in sin’s vice.

 

  

On this New Year’s Day

He will give you “New Life”,

What a way to start out 2022!

A New Life in Christ!

 

Stewart Russell © January 1, 2022