What!

 

 

 

Regarding this title

You would think it strange

And perhaps you are now convinced

That I must be deranged.

 

But hear me out

Before passing judgment

And you will see another at whom

To aim your contempt.

 

For it is ridiculous

To say the very least

Regarding a recent piece of legislation

That disturbs my piece.

 

One thing is for certain

There is much comment

And people all over this country

Are airing their dissent.

 

POLICE ACT. CAP. 167

With reference to item 68:

Refusing to Aid Member of Service Assaulted,

Let us get it straight.

 

Any person who,

When called upon to aid and assist

A member of the Service who,

While in the execution of his duty,

 

Is assaulted or resisted

Or in danger of being assaulted or resisted,

Refuses or neglects to aid and assist

The member of the Service

 

Is guilty of an offence

And is liable on summary conviction

To a fine of $10 000 or to imprisonment

For one year or both.

 

Granted, we are trying

To help out the police here

But surely Madam PM you can see

The reason for my fear.

 

I have not been trained

Like the police have been

And thus, I stay as far away as possible

From any violent scene.

 

Once I see trouble

I am overcome with fear

And I thought that this was natural

But now, it’s not clear.

 

I had always thought

That the police backup police

But now a piece of legislation implies

A partial cease.

 

The public is now backup

According to this law

And the Honourable AG blames the DLP

For this current flaw.

 

 

All they have done

Is to change the fine

From $500 to $10 000 currently

And or 1-year confine.

 

 

Of course, he continued,

It’s really up to a judge

To determine how much of this fine

But he will not budge.

 

Most are refusing nowadays

To go to another’s aid

Like the cries and pleas of that old man

That fell on deaf ears.

 

He was being robbed

And none would intervene,

They fearfully stood there and watched

The awful scene.

 

People are more reluctant

Fearing there might be guns

And thus, they are prepared in the event

To just pick up and run.

 

So, Madam PM,

And the Honourable AG,

It is not any dislike for the police

But just my timidity.

 

Yes, it could be me next

In need of such public help

But believe me, when I hear a gun explode

My heart suddenly melts.

 

 

So, like the wiretapping,

Please wheel and come again,

The people are already crying out

In anguish and in pain.

 

Perhaps I could make a call

On my cellular phone

And hope that some police patrol

Is within the zone.

 

I have nothing Madam PM

Against our Police Service,

Actually, I now must make it clear

They are tops on my list.

 

Daily arrests are made

Only to be thwarted by bail

And this sometimes gives the impression

As though the police fail.

 

But they are doing

A really magnificent job

Quickly arresting suspects and felons

Who murder and who rob. 

 

 

Sworn to protect

And protecting they do

But this is a different Barbados today

From the one I knew.

 

Now it seems to me

We have to protect them

And especially if the police demand it;

Now this is a problem.

 

 

Send adequate backup

In the very first place

For I am telling you, where trouble is,

I don’t show my face.

 

I am rather nervous

Over noisy disputes

So, do not expect much support from me-

I become suddenly mute.

 

And regarding the threat

Of this $10 000 fine or confine

I am still likely not to get involved-

Madam PM, I decline.

 

The AG should reflect

On what he actually said

For somehow, I am getting the impression

He’d rather see me dead.

 

That grin on his face,

It sometimes troubles me,

Tell me, Madam PM, is he the only one

Who can be the AG?

 

Stewart Russell © August 21, 2025

 

No Truth

 

Some believe the only truth

Is that there is no truth

And that for them, they also say,

Is the only absolute.

 

Of this, they are sure

That there is no absolute truth

Except of course, this absolute truth

And, therein is their proof.

 

So for every rule, they also say

There is at least one exception.

Is this true? I would ask,

Or just a generalization?

 

Is a generalization a truth

Or just a mere existing fact?

If a generalization is a truth,

How can we have that?

 

Is truth and fact one and alike?

This is the timely question,

Would the answer be absolute

Or only an impression?

 

Nothing but the truth, he swore,

 But it he couldn’t tell,

Anything he said, would be lies

He knew that quite well.

 

There can be no justice

If there is no truth,

No kind of evidence

Could be offered as proof.

 

Hence the “F” is missing

From the Law

And what we now have

Is the “Flaw”.

 

 

Hence the missteps!

Since there is no absolute truth

It’s the “Flaw” that guides

And no such thing as proof.

 

Trapped is the spider

In its own web

And the fly, this time,

Will be sumptuously fed.

 

How things turn around

When there is no truth!

You don’t have to look far

To find the proof.

 

Stewart Russell © October 2019

 

Minute Fool

 

 

I’d rather be a fool for a minute

Than be a fool for life

Never asking when I do not know

And building internal strife.

 

I’ll ask the question if it matters

If it really matters to me,

It will be one more off my list

And help me more clearly see.

 

Why be a fool for life

Rather than a minute fool

Giving all and sundry the impression

That I never attended school?

 

Feeling good for a minute

While giving the impression I know

Would get me no further

Than my lifetime circus show.

 

 

 

I’d soon be exposed anyway

For the fool I generally am

So, call me a minute fool if you may,

A lifetime fool is not my plan.

 

You see, any fool can know

So, make it a point to understand,

As brilliant as Einstein was

He crawled before he ran.

 

Stewart Russell © April 6, 2021

 

Tact and Diplomacy?

 

 

 

Today I read the above

And it seemed like a misprint,

It sounded more to me

That hypocrisy was the intent.

 

A thin line between the two

I implied in another of my poems,

Re diplomacy and hypocrisy

It’s difficult to separate them.

 

Tact and hypocrisy!

That’s what invaded my mind:

Not to do with the church

But politics it is this time.

 

More tact and hypocrisy

Since the truth really hurts,

Such is rife in today’s politics

As well as in the church.

 

 

Tell them what they want to hear,

Tell them it’s the truth

And like moths to a lighted lamp

They will provide the proof.

 

Impression covers up the truth

As it titillates the mind

And given our hunger for rumour

It works almost every time.

 

Addictions are many and varied

And there’s one for every sucker

Such as with the right diplomacy

He will become a follower.

 

 

One of yard-fowl proportions

Even when there is no corn

So, my faithful brother and sister,

I think it’s best we be warned.

 

Tact is good and so too diplomacy

O yes, we would all agree

But be vigilant and militant

To stamp out hypocrisy.

 

And there is a lot around

Especially on the political scene

And when we think we’re improving

We are back where we have been.

 

Tact and diplomacy?

No, hypocrisy and diplomacy!

All and sundry are consummate diplomats

Practising political hypocrisy.

 

Stewart Russell © August 6, 2022

 

No Truth

 

 

Some believe the only truth

Is that there is no truth

And that for them, they also say,

Is the only absolute.

 

Of this, they are sure

That there is no absolute truth

Except of course, this absolute truth

And, therein is their proof.

 

So for every rule, they also say,

There is at least one exception.

Is this true? I would ask,

Of just a generalization?

 

Is a generalization a truth

Or just a mere existing fact?

If a generalization is a truth,

How can we have that?

 

Is truth and fact one and alike?

That’s the timely question,

Would the answer be absolute

Or only an impression?

 

Nothing but the truth, he swore,

 But it he couldn’t tell,

Anything he said, would be lies

He knew that quite well.

 

There can be no justice

If there is no truth,

No kind of evidence

Could be offered as proof.

 

Hence the “F” is missing

From the Law

And what we now have

Is the “Flaw”.

 

 

Hence the missteps!

Since there is no absolute truth

It’s the “Flaw” that guides

And no such thing as proof.

 

Trapped is the spider

In its own web

And the fly, this time,

Will be sumptuously fed.

 

How things turn around

When there is no truth!

You don’t have to look far

To find the proof.

 

 

Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880)

 

Stewart Russell © October 2019