If Ralph Had Known

  

 

If Ralph had known

It would turn out like this

Would he still have taken the leap

With such a risk?

 

Risk of a pension

Requiring more time

Or, was there something else

On his mind?

 

If Ralph had known

Would he have given up

A safe seat for the unknown

Hoping for luck?

 

A miracle perhaps,

Going against the grain

Across this political landscape

Where Mia reigns.

 

 

 

Twice he had seen it

Two audacious wipeouts,

Pray, tell me my dear Watson,

Why did he doubt?

 

 

 

Did he really think

He’d make a difference

While courting, as it turned out,

A death-sentence?

 

For, given his age,

And the carnage endured,

Would he have the political will

To ask for more?

 

If Ralph had known

The D’s was a burial ground,

Would he have seriously thought

Of turning it around?

 

I really doubt it

Yet, the warnings were rife,

He was leaving a comfort zone

For unimagined strife.

 

 

 

Ralph did take a leap

Without looking first

And of course, life is lived forward

And cannot be reversed.

 

 

 

He left one party

And divided another

And now death throes are lingering-

What a huge bother!

 

 

 

Can the D’s build back

After such a hit?

It would take a very long time,

From where I sit.

 

Time is no luxury

Where Ralph is concerned

For in my mind, he has suffered

First degree burns.

 

‘Tis a very thin line

Betwixt bravery and folly,

Which one best describes Ralph?

You tell me.

 

No crossing again

If PM Mia has her way

Given too, that 28 supported her

Only yesterday.

 

One absented

After saying her bit

But Prime Minister Mia Mottley

Was having none of it.

 

 

 

She registered her vote

From over in away

As though she was telling someone

Not today.

 

If Ralph had known

That only he would cross

Would he still have crossed over

And suffer such loss?

 

Stewart Russell © February 26, 2026

 

Apathy Wins

  

 

Stop wunna boasting

And look at who en voting,

One hundred and eighty-seven thousand

And still counting.

 

More than two-thirds

By a simple calculation,

Even Mia could not bring them out

Is my summation.

 

Last time out

Was the lowest poll ever,

To tell me that this time would be so low

I would say never. 

 

  

 

A staggering statistic

Regarding this one

And I dare say it would have been so

Regardless of who won.

 

Eighty-three thousand

Is the electorate that voted,

It’s just a new national consciousness

Someone quoted.

 

‘Tis nothing to celebrate,

Madam PM, take note,

For when apathy wins, we all lose,

That is my quote.

 

Even as the Bs celebrate

We ought to cogitate

On the ramifications of this statistic

For our beloved state.

 

 

 

Just 30.8 percent

Has got to be a protest,

Meaning the BLP got out their base

But not the rest.

 

Rather than vote BLP

They decided not to vote,

Meaning that the winning BLP party

Must also take note.

 

 

 

For the second time

The Apathy Party has won:

The first time in the 2022 snap election

And again, in this one.

 

Only once prior to ’22,

Was a poll less than 60%

But these two recent snap elections

Show a certain bent.

 

It is interesting to note

The poll of 1994

When the Erskine Sandiford DLP

Was shown the door.

 

A “no confidence” motion

Brought by Owen Arthur

Succeeded on the floor of Parliament

And the D's struggled ever after.

 

That three-year term

Occasioned a snap election

And was one of three 60% turn-outs

Going back to the ’56 election.

 

The highest election polls

Came in successive elections:

The first in our year of Independence

And in the 1971 elections.

 

Both were Barrow wins

In the upper 70s and 80s,

79.7% in the year of Independence

Full of expectancy.

 

 

 

Independence was granted

Just the February before,

Thus, Barrow became a national hero

For this and more.

 

In '71 was the highest

With a whopping 80.63 %,

That the vote was a powerful means,

Drove the Bajan intent. 

 

But now gone from us

Are those civic conscious days

When a complete parliamentary term

Comprised five years.

  

Now we have elections

Long before that time

And this strategy puts other parties

In a serious bind.

 

Mia is very clever,

A shrewd strategist is she

And it’s time she uses her clever mind

To curb this apathy.

 

  

 

Apathy Party has won

These last two elections,

So, the buck now stops at PM Mottley:

Leader of our Nation.

 

The worst of it all,

None will enter parliament

And unless someone crosses again,

There’s none to represent.

 

No opposition in Parliament

Hampers true democracy

And I must remind my Bajan family,

This is a travesty.

 

 

 

Apathy has won again

And in effect we have lost,

So, all we can do now is wait and see

What will be the cost.

 

Stewart Russell © February 12, 2026

 

The Apathy Party

  

 

There is a political grouping

That developed over time

And its growth by leaps and bounds

Is currently on my mind.

 

I call them the Apathy Party:

And we need to take note

That during the last general election

They got the highest vote.

 

Approximately 55 percent

Did not turn up to vote

And I dare say to you, my erudite friend,

This cuts democracy’s throat.

 

 

 

There may be good reasons

Why some did not turn out

But that apathy is alive and well,

There is no doubt.

 

I hear it on the streets

And on the call-in programmes

And both of the premiere parties

Are getting slammed.

 

“It’s time for a third party,

We’re fed-up with these two

That tell us what we want to hear

But in fact, little do.”

 

Just simply changing hands

Like having an exclusive right

And they virtually shut out others

From entering the fight.

 

It is like a waste of time,

Third parties don’t do well

Since their supporters do not turn up

But stay away instead.

 

 

 

Theirs is the Apathy Party

That have become so fed-up

That they will not vote for a candidate

Having become unstuck.

 

They once voted B or D

But now they vote for nobody

Which has affected the DLP far more

Than the BLP.

 

BLP’s percent has grown

While their numbers have dropped

But the diminishing of the DLP base

Has put them in a dire spot.

 

 

 

Blame the Apathy Party

Whose interest has waned,

They now paint all politicians alike

Or should I say stain?

 

It is a sad state of affairs

When most refuse to vote

But I’ll ask you this, though not sure,

Who is taking note?

 

Not the BLP for sure

For it is to their advantage,

It is the DLP that needs to wake up;

Not a seat they can manage.

 

Hopefully this time around

More voters will turn out

But given how things are shaping up

I still have great doubt.

 

 

 

Apathy Party will win

As they did in twenty-two

And the BLP will sit in the Parliament

And do what they want to do.

 

Stewart Russell © January 26, 2026

 

Is There a Chance?

  

 

 

Is there any chance

There won’t be a three-peat

In which the Mia Mottley led BLP

Gets every seat?

 

 

 

I can tell you

What I’m hearing out there

But really most if it is fairy tale

I’d rather not share.

 

Some are saying

What they would like to see

But the reality is quite evident

It’s not likely to be.

 

The Ds are confident

So too, Friends of Democracy,

Three have even formed a coalition

To build efficacy.

 

Utility pole after utility pole

Is flashing Bright Red,

“Red and Ready” is Mia’s slogan,

Things looking dread.

 

Up to the time of writing

I’m yet to see some yellow

But a once prominent D surmised

Posters are rather shallow.

 

Differently, I observed

A certain Constituency office

So bedecked with the face of a candidate

He could never be missed.

 

 

You’d better believe it

The country is seeing red,

Actually, in more ways than one

It’s both red and dread.

 

Is there a chance?

I would say not much,

Thirty-nil, while losing some ground,

And this is simply put.

 

DLP’s vote is severely split:

Not so with the BLP,

Apathy will no doubt play its part

But not significantly.

 

 

 

The Bs are red and ready

The Ds are confident,

The other parties will cause a stir

As Bs and Ds they resent.

 

We need an Opposition

That’s vibrant in its appeal,

No one man opposition can put fire

To the Government’s heel.

 

No threat to starve MPs

Will have long term effect,

Such a silly and petulant strategy

Is a futile threat.

 

Numbers count, I argue,

Especially in Parliament

And they must be significant enough

For the Ds to make a dent.

 

 

  

So, while I wish them luck

And hope they advance,

Something tells me quite loudly:

Not a chance!

 

Stewart Russell © January 24, 2026

 

Diminished in A Moment

  

 

Get your act together

Or we’ll treat you like the rat,

If such were said to you,

Would you take that?

 

And what about your pride?

Would any at all be left

Or would you only hear the welcome

And to the rest be deaf?

 

The bosom is very close

So, every eye will be on you,

Would you still be feeling accepted

Regarded with such a view?

  

You could be an opportunist

Or perhaps seen as a plant

To offset their enduring institution

But understand you can’t.

 

Barely four years passed

And that you disliked now like,

Is it really the case, Mr. Defector

You have seen the light?

 

 

 

Did your constituents know:

Those who voted for you,

That you were parting ways with them

And are finally through?

 

R.A.T. crossed the floor

Just like the bishop before

But you, sir, had everyone guessing

Before closing the door.

 

Maybe you were smarter

And displayed a better timing

In winning the nomination in the city

Before the bell was ringing.

 

 

 

Just in time Mr. Defector,

Or already in the bosom

Having been accepted by the PM

And past sins forgotten?

 

You may be riding high

Or so you may be feeling

But to be welcomed in such a way

To me is quite revealing.

 

Maybe you’ll win the seat

But what about your pride?

The fact that you are being used

Cannot be denied.

 

 

Diminished in a moment:

Insult followed success,

Mr. Defector, it definitely seems to me

You are a pawn at best.

 

Maybe there was a reason

You had lost your voice,

Perhaps your vocal-chords doubted

The reason for your choice.

 

From a dying institution

To one that seems invincible,

The fact you’re at the bottom of the pack

To me is inescapable.

 

It is an interesting lane

To which you have switched

But in the best interest of the city folk

I hope you can make it fit.

 

 

 

Representation in the courts

Is different from Parliament,

In the former you are paid for services

In the latter you are a servant.

 

 

 

In one you decide your pay

In the other, the Government,

But note it’s the money of taxpayers

Whom you represent.

 

Diminished in a moment

By the Deputy PM

So, tell me in all sincerity Mr. Defector,

Are you through with the Dems?

 

Stewart Russell © January 19, 2026

 

Window Dressing

 

 

There is much window dressing

All year round:

In store windows and in Parliament-

By persons renown.

 

I recall going into Bridgetown

With my dad and my siblings

And viewing the Christmas showcases

And this was so exciting. 

 

It cost my dad nothing more

Than a pack of nuts and bus fare

And while we stared at the show window,

No police appeared.

 

 

 

If that went over your head

It means you are quite young,

I am talking about back in the 60’s decade

When you were not around.

 

We seldom got what we saw

But we anticipated the tour

Though as we got older and better off

We did it no more.

 

You see, it held no more appeal

As it did when we were kids

And so, when we became young adults,

Other things did.

 

However, I must confess

Window dressing has returned

Though it’s not the window dressing

For which I once yearned. 

 

It’s not the store windows

But behind Parliament walls

Where MPs paint wonderful pictures

That have us enthralled.

 

Pictures about projects

That never get off the ground

But year after year they get recycled

Like a merry-go-round.

 

Window dressing of the kind

To attract investment

Like the recent legislation to encourage

Free regional movement.

 

  

 

Our west coast and south coast

Are strewn with hotels

And the picture of these coasts shows

Our country is well.

 

 

 

But while seeing is believing

All that glitters is not gold

And all this window dressing is doing

Is creating debt untold.

 

Window dressing in the form

Of importing experts galore

But the myriad of perennial problems

Still vexing us sore.

 

Borrowing to window dress

To prop up foreign reserves

Making the country appear wealthy:

Apparent future preserved.

 

Yes, a healthy environment

But a people grossly sick

Forcing them that are disenfranchised

To be economically slick.

 

Reimagining and reinventing

Window dressing décor

But nothing’s really getting any better

For our indigent poor.

 

Other than window dressing

That smacks of welfarism

That only generates more and more

Social rheumatism. 

 

The facility to climb

The proverbial ladder of success

Appears to be targeting a select few

Leaving most in a mess.

 

 

 

The country of opportunity!

A great window dressing ad

But beyond the window dressing façade

Things are really bad.

 

A renown Prime Minister

Respected worldwide

But the Republic she presides over

Experiences a great divide.

 

Between the rich and the poor

There is mighty wide gap

And often the token assistance given

Is more like a slap.

 

 

Like the window dressing

Of that $300 amount

That in the blink of an eye disappeared

From the poor’s account.

 

Absolutely no trickle down

Reaches the vulnerably poor

While the window dressing politicians

Get more and more.

 

The MPs dress up the window

And invite the poor to look

But these recycled manifesto promises

Produce only a book.

 

 

 

A book for posterity

Given to the poor for free:

“A Window Dressing Guide for Politicians”

Added to a sparse library.

 

A world of window dressers

Politicians have become,

Showcasing their promises to all

But only benefitting some.

 

Yet they are convincing

And for them we vote

Lured by another window dressing:

A politician’s master stroke.

 

Stewart Russell © October 19, 2025