No More Offspring

 

No more offspring?

Is it a fertility problem?

No, far from this, my friend,

An officer joined them.

 

What kind of officer?

A marriage officer,

Do you mean a Reverend?

No, a legal officer.

 

Why no more offspring?

Pray, tell me why,

It’s as straightforward as this:

A guy married a guy.

 

No more offspring

In a same sex marriage,

No matter how often they cohabit

Or expertly manage.

 

Two of the same

Cannot offspring produce,

It is the most foolproof strategy

To keep populations reduced.

 

 

It was family planning

To keep the numbers down,

The contraceptives worked well;

Fewer children around.

 

With two of the same

There is no problem at all,

The number would definitely stop

Rather than just fall.

 

A foolproof strategy

To quickly depopulate

And in addition to the many wars,

At an alarming rate.

 

Alarming for some,

Very satisfying for others,

Gay marriages will be a problem

One way or another.

 

Not all will go this way

Thank God for this,

But this way, it has been proven,

Is fraught with risks.

 

Not so much the women

As much as the men,

Medical science has revealed

Its many problems.

 

 

Adoption will increase

And no doubt sperm banks

And females will bear fetuses

For every Bill and Frank.

 

Mary and Jane

Will have theirs too

But no generation of offspring

Between a same two.

 

Stewart Russell © July 9, 2024

 

Rose and Violet

 

 

Two flowers bloomed in a garden

Now withered and gone away,

Yet their fragrance and beauty remain

Neither troubled by decay.

 

Their fragrance caresses our noses

Their beauty is still our delight

And though they lie in yonder cemetery

They are never out of our sight.

 

They are always in our memory

As we recall their feathery touch

And none of their offspring could deny

That they have given us much.

 

I am sure you would want to know

The names of these flowers two,

I am only too eager to facilitate this

As grateful children would do.

 

 

 

 

One was a Rose of rare beauty

The other, a Violet unique,

Both of them were of July vintage

And bloomed on neighboring streets.

 

 

  

 

They bloomed for ninety-two years

Though having expired at different times,

Five years apart to be more precise

The Violet following behind.

 

Rose and Violet, there you have it,

Mothers of my wife and I,

And though their petals have disappeared

Their memory will never die.

 

Our hearts ache at their passing

But their memory soothes our pain,

Their families have been knitted together

While their legacy remains.

 

 

 

Rose and Violet, though different

Are still very much alike,

Mothers in Zion and beyond

Still filling our memory with delight.

 

Wonderful examples of parenting

Of an excellence that far surpasses duty,

Today and always we celebrate them

Two flowers of rarest beauty.

 

Stewart Russell © April 8, 2021

 

 

That Critical Triad

 

 

Today is the first day

Of the rest of your life

And if you are married

It is the same for your wife.

 

Your last day you can’t tell

None of us can,

Nonetheless, my friend,

We still need to plan.

 

Consider three questions

You should bear in mind,

Each one is important

At any given time.

 

Now is the opportune time

To consider these three:

They deal with origin

Purpose and destiny.

 

 

The “where from”

The “purpose”

And the “where to”:

It is time to consider these

Before you bid adieu.

 

“What’s my origin?”

Is a good question to ask,

From the Bible’s vantage point

It is not a difficult task.

 

“In the beginning God”

Four significant words

That tell the whole story,

I trust you have heard.

 

The creator of all things

That we see around,

His design is evident

Whether we look up or down.

   

Before Him

Nothing did exist

And in Him

Everything consists.

 

 

The first man and woman

Were created by Him

And all was perfect in Eden

Before the first sin.

 

We are their offspring

That is who we are,

Evolution missed the boat

And it still does by far.

 

That takes care of how

We came to be,

Such has to do with origin,

Now for purpose and destiny.

 

The critical triad,

I must restate,

Has everything to do

With our final estate...

 

 

But before we get there

There is the purpose for being

And if we miss this

Hell we’ll be seeing.

 

I hold no apology

For being so blunt,

These times are too serious

For political stunts.

 

We were created

To please the Lord,

In order to do this

We must consult His Word.

 

A lamp to our feet

And a light to our path,

The psalmist records this

In the biblical first half.

 

His reference

Was to the Word of God,

The one whom he worshipped

And would daily applaud.

 

Talents and gifts

God has given to us,

The major gift, of course

Was His Son, The Lord Jesus.

 

 

He came to die

So that we might live

And through His Son Jesus

Eternal life gives.

 

Our lives must be lived out

In praise to Him,

The one who conquered death

To free us from sin.

 

So that our gift to God

Is like His gift to us,

We give Him our life

In exchange for Jesus.

 

Next is our witness

Of Jesus’ life in us,

Formed by the Spirit

As in God we trust.

 

Called to be salt

And called to be lights

Is the purpose of every soul

Above all our rights.

 

The gifts and talents

God has endowed us with

Is for the main purpose

Of propagating His gift…

 

 

The Gospel of Jesus Christ

To a world of sin

So that they may know

Salvation is only in Him.

  

Thus, shaping our destiny

And that of the world,

Particularly all them

That believe on His Word.

 

One of two destinies

May sound somewhat trite

But it is hell for the unsaved

And heaven for the lights.

 

The lights are those

That witness of the Light,

That light being Jesus

That gave the blind sight.

 

Thus, heaven and hell

Are the two destinies

And one or the other

Will be our reality.

 

Stewart Russell © February 2020

 

It’s Agenda

Everyone has agenda

It is the basis for what we do,

And that very same agenda

Also shapes our worldview.

Sometimes it is hidden

Sometimes it’s in the open,

Sometimes we work it out in silence

Sometimes it is outspoken.

It evolves from stage to stage

And progresses through each level,

It could be something elaborate

And for others, very simple.

Yes, agenda is self-defining

Especially the stereotypes,

And even some in the minority

Put up a determined fight.

Orientation and inclination

Is a part of every soul

To the extent that even weirdos

Are becoming very bold.

At the premise of their agenda

Are orientation and inclination

And however weird they maybe

Acceptance is the expectation.

Like the agenda of the genders:

Your gender, their gender, and mine

Are evolving by leaps and bounds

Where once there were only two kinds.

There is a gender you are feeling

And there is a gender that you like,

There is a gender you can switch to

A different gender for the day or night.

There is a gender for

When I am not feeling that gender anymore,

And we could go on and on

Showing you genders galore.

You can choose your own gender

From the assortment that we carry

Or, you can develop one of your choice

Once that gender makes you happy.

Or you may choose

To not have any gender at all,

It does not matter your agenda

Any gender can be your call.

No need to panic or rush it

Of genders, we will never run out,

There is a gender for every inclination

Or any orientation that you spout.

It doesn’t matter how ludicrous

Or how ridiculous it may be,

It is our aim to meet every demand

And to make everyone happy.

Agenda or gender

There needs be no confusing of the two,

One fits into the other

Like a sock fits into a shoe.

It does not even matter

Which of the two comes to the fore,

One will invariably promote the other

No less and no more.

So your gender, their gender

And also mine,

Whatever the perceived gender,

Some agenda will define.

Be reminded, God has an agenda

It is stated in His Holy Word,

There you will find only two genders

All other agendas are absurd.

It is absolutely nonsensical

To add to the genders that brought you,

All others subtract from procreation

That is my considered view.

For the purpose of procreation

There can be only two

But man will give up the tried and tested

To experiment with the new.

The devil’s agenda is often hidden

In the emotions of the human mind

But in God’s divine agenda,

He and his affiliates are only for a time.

Now I have reached verse twenty-one

The maturation of a woman or man,

Regarding your agenda and gender

Please stick with the Master’s plan.

The apostrophe and s on Master

 Refers to God’s original plan,

No crossover, in between or obscene

Just the two genders originating in Adam.

It would be remiss of me

If I did not repeat the theme,

For now, it’s agenda that’s shaping gender

Hence a world that is about to careen.

The question is whose agenda:

Your agenda, their agenda or mine,

Let’s get back to the two genders

Which produce offspring of their kind.

Stewart Russell (c) September 2019