Funny

 

Would you defrock a Bishop

For wearing a frock?

Would you disable a croc

With a piece of crock?

 

Could we get wet with water

That was not wet

And why take your robotic snake

To the village vet?

 

Is there any correction

For a topsy-turvy world?

If so, to which insane head-shrinker

Could it be referred?

 

Funny, these questions

That I am asking you

For the lines are so blurred

Few have a clear view.

 

 

Gay is not merry

And straight means not gay

And funny as we used to know,

Has come a long way.

 

Cause funny isn’t funny

As we knew back then

And it’s no laughing matter now;

It’s a huge problem.

 

Could a lie be a lie

At the same time it’s true?

And if this could ever happen

What could we do?

 

We’d have to believe it

And doubt it at the same time

And thus, nobody would feel

We are out of our mind.

 

Funny where we are

And how far we have come

To believe the total nonsense

That once was dumb.

 

 

The brighter we get

It seems the dumber we are

And we are missing the mark,

Not narrowly but by far.

 

Do you see what I mean

By this topic funny?

Now, if it is your idea of a joke

It’s not so for me.

 

Stewart Russell © September 18, 2024

 

Is A Lie Ever Permissible?

 

 

A lie is an intentional falsehood

that violates someone’s right to know the truth.

But there are cases in which people forfeit their right

To know the truth.

 

I came across the above

Only today,

Compared to the following,

What would you say?

 

You hear lie?

That is lie!

Meaning it sounded so incredible

It had to be a lie.

 

If I know that you know

That something is not true,

Then I am not deceived

And neither are you.

 

As in the case of a joke

Just to make someone laugh,

Once lewdness is absent

That’s a wholesome craft.

 

A lie can be implied

Or it can be withholding truth,

Once the motive is awry

There’s the burden of proof.

 

You may even be silent

When you should speak up,

By your silence you are lying

You are still out of luck.

 

Lies of every form and fashion

Rolling off our tongues,

White lies, smart lies

All seemingly wrong.

 

But is there ever a time

When it is better to lie

Such as some cases in the Bible

I will attempt to describe?

 

In Exodus 17 verses 1 to 21

The midwives defied Pharaoh’s will

And a convenient lie was all it took

To overturn Pharaoh’s death drill.

 

God appeared to sanction it

For the male babies were saved,

Motive seemed important

To vindicate how they behaved.

 

Rahab was a prostitute

But is better known for her lie

When she deceived the Canaanites

And rescued the Hebrew spies.

 

It effected their deliverance

And later her own

Along with her entire family

That were to safety borne.

 

Rahab was justified by works

Of which that lie was a part

So clearly, this kind of lie

Is not a poison dart.

 

Abraham had lied too

But this was a different affair,

This man known for his faith

Had been overcome with fear.

 

His lie almost caused trouble

For the then Pharaoh

That was moved by Sarah’s beauty

As the Bible showed.

 

 

Ananias and Saphira

Is another classic case

Of a lie that went wrong

And was in poor taste.

 

They attempted to deceive

The apostle Peter

But the Holy Spirit exposed them

Whereupon their life expired.

 

It appears to me, then,

That they are certain occasions

When a lie is permissible

As in an ethical obligation.

 

It mustn’t be a habit though

And the motive is critical,

Very unlike the everyday practice

Of so many people.

 

Stewart Russell © July 2020

 

Another All Fools’ Day

 

 

Another All Fools’ Day is here

But nothing like before

When we sent the fool further and further

Sometimes, from door to door.

 

It’s the third for the COVID virus

That some argue was a hoax

But COVID is nothing like All Fools’ Day

That we regarded as a joke.

 

I find it particularly interesting

That All Fools Day has lost its appeal

And it passes almost unnoticed

Like a long-forgotten creed.

 

Maybe the fools have also gone

And nobody gets tricked anymore

Or perhaps, we’ve become so busy

With many a daily chore.

 

Whatever the reason is,

All Fools’ Day is nothing like before,

Maybe we have become so serious

Such jokes aren’t funny anymore.

 

 

Or maybe we are all fools

And All Fools’ Day is every day,

Consequently, April 1^st is just another

In a year full of All Fools’ days.

 

Three hundred and sixty-five days

Plus, one more for a leap year,

That All Fools’ Day is every day

To me is abundantly clear.

 

You only have to look around

At the behavior of the world

And if your eyes are not dysfunctional

With me you will concur.

 

Stewart Russell © April 1, 2022