Whither April Showers

 

 

No chance of April showers

April has gone away,

The month of May and maybe

Begins on this very day.

 

Commonly known as May Day

From work workers will take a rest,

Labour Day it's also known as

With entertainment at its best.

 

Take Barbados for example:

Picnic spots will be rammed

And these workers will take a breather

To have their annual May Day jam.

 

Per chance should showers come

Remember what month begins today,

They can’t be April showers

For these don’t come in May.

 

As for me, I am staying put

And you maybe able to guess why,

I am not as young as I used to be

And me this heat would fry.

 

 

It is truly energy sapping

And there’re no showers to cool it down,

No chance of April showers in May

Unless April comes back round.

 

Not in a day, I guess you’d say,

April was only yesterday,

Well, I would be extremely contented

If showers do come in May.

 

Or I could wait till June

For some showers to cool me down,

Do recall it’s in the month of June

Hurricane season comes around.

 

 

It’s until the 31^st of November

I’m sure I heard a Minister say

So, whether at home or at a picnic spot,

Do have an enthralling May Day!

 

 

And if per chance it starts to rain

Remember today is May Day,

These won’t be April showers for sure,

For April can’t come in May.

 

Stewart Russell © May 1, 2024

 

Up and Down Up and Down

 

 

Up and down,

Up and down,

Two, three, four, five,

And yet another around.

 

You may be wondering

What I am talking about,

It is today’s weather:

An intermittent waterspout.

 

You open the windows

And sit down for a while,

Then you have to close them-

It’s this yo-yo style.

 

Up and down,

Up and down,

Two, three, four, five, six…

Feeling like a clown.

 

Building muscular arms

Creating a six pack,

This rain keeps on stopping

And then coming back.

 

Taunting and teasing

Now for sixth time,

This intermittent waterspout

Messing with my mind.

 

Overcast skies

Promising much rain

But just falling and stopping

Again, and again.

 

Frustrating it is

And definitely giving me a fit,

On account of the rain

Just doing drip-drip.

 

Up and down,

Up and down,

Three, four, five, six, seven

Causing me to frown.

 

A drizzle at first

Then a sharp shower,

This intermittent waterspout

For more than an hour.

 

It’s battling two things:

Heat and Sahara dust,

And neither of them yielding

Is causing me a rush.

 

 

A rush from my chair

To close and then open,

This taunting weather today

Is causing me a problem.

 

I just sat back down

Having got up to close,

This might be the downfall-

But who really knows?

 

Up and down,

Up and down,

Could be about eight times-

My count is not sound.

 

This is the longest so far,

It has been falling a while

So, I will stop fretting myself

And light up with a smile.

 

I will say thank you Lord

For the rain and the sun

And for the up and down exercise-

I’ll treat it as fun.

 

Stewart Russell © July 3, 2023

 

It’s So Hot!

 

 

Boy, ent it hot nuh?

Dese days hot fuh so!

It is like de sun in de sky

                           Decide to put on a show.         

 

Even in de shade it hot,

I mean, real hot!

Yuh have to take your time

Or yuh would drop.

 

Dis is not de same sun

That I grow up with,

At no time was it this hot

And being such a risk.

 

It could take your life,

I mean this heat-

I just feel for those people

Out there on the street.

 

Boy, ent it hot nuh?

Even indoors,

I tell you all who disagree

It is hotter than before.

 

I used to play cricket,

Tennis and football too

All day on the hot tar road

And not a shoe.

 

Yuh cahn risk dat today-

Not with this sun,

At my age if you was to try dat

Yuh know yuh done.

 

 

Sunstroke would get you

Follow by Belmont or Two Sons,

I tell you, mess with this heat

And for sure yuh done!

 

They telling me

That this is global warming

And that the ice cap is melting

And sea levels rising.

 

I don’t know if they wrong

I don’t know if they right,

I just know dat these days real hot

And they giving me gripe.

 

I does dread this time of year

With all of this heat

And as for people that work in it,

That can’t be sweet.

 

Here is a little thing

That I does do,

I does drink hot beverages

And so should you.

 

 

 

 

Hot cools you down,

I know this sounds foolish

But cold makes you feel hotter,

Is that your wish?

 

Actually, my friend,

Science is involved here:

Heat moves from hot to cold-

It’s the same with air.

 

You’ll drink cold forevermore

In your effort to cool down

And you will simply develop a belly

Just like a clown.

 

Drink hot on the other hand

And you will cool down

And better survive this heat

And this scorching sun.

 

 

 

Man, it is so hot

That I must repeat,

Uh hot from muh head

Right down to muh feet!

 

Stewart Russell © June 9, 2023