I’m Highly Curious

  

 

 

I am highly curious

Of the PM’s moves,

How this snap election thing

Is become her groove.

 

What, pray tell,

Is her reason for such?

I really wish she would come out

And tell us as much.

 

Be transparent Mam,

As you did promise,

Why are these snap elections

So high on your list?

 

Is five years too much

To handle at a time

Or is getting a fresh mandate

Niggling at your mind?

 

 

 

Atherley then Ralphie,

Forming an Opposition

And putting a blot on the outcome

Of the elections.

 

 

 

Are rumblings within

Your well-oiled machine?

Are senior members of the party

Causing you to scream?

 

Tell us Madam PM

What is upsetting you

And causing you to end the term

Before you are through.

 

Constitution incomplete

Promised in twenty-two,

But a general election imminent

Announced by you.

 

A snap general election

A year before it is due,

I tell you Madam PM, I am curious

And others are too.

 

If you do this again

Fifteen years would be eleven:

Three and a half twice plus four

Creates a problem.

 

Three terms of eleven years

Rather than fifteen,

I would feel rather short-changed

If you see what I mean.

 

So, Madam PM

What is this all about?

Are you just calling snap elections

Because you have the clout?

 

Or was it, I ask you,

To assuredly settle a score

By removing a thorn in your flesh

That makes you sore?

 

Did you run out steam

And preferred a fresh start

Or did you want to show the wannabees

They are not smart?

 

 

 

Would you be disposed

To do like the USA

And have a fixed date for elections

And proceed in this way?

 

Highly curious

Madam Prime Minister,

Please answer me truthfully

And do not defer.

 

Stewart Russell © January 24, 2026

 

Mottley and Motley

 

 

Just one ‘T’

Separates these two:

Mottley

And her Motley crew.

 

One plus twenty-nine

We know makes thirty

But only one in control

Is kind of quirky.

 

Mottley is that one

And transcends her crew,

Clearly without her,

What can they do?

 

She’s large and in charge

Without a doubt

And none of her crew

Dare calls her out.

 

Jump she says

And they ask how high,

Mottley decides

And they comply.

 

Adams had opposers

And so did Owen

But of Mottley’s motley crew

Not one is willing.

 

 

She is both their heart

And their brain,

It's Mottley's Labour Party

That’s what some claim.

 

I sometimes wonder

If she were to part,

Re moving forward

Where would they start?

 

The ‘T’ Mottley has

Distinguishes the two,

Mottley is far more clever

Than her motley crew.

 

That ‘T’ is tenacity

Which her crew lacks

With no bone it appears

Supporting their backs.

 

They refuse to speak

Because they must agree,

Hence, what she sees

Is what they also see.

 

That ‘T’ spells trouble

If they speak up,

Without Mottley’s say-so

They’re out of luck.

 

 

I anticipate that day

When one takes a stand

That differs from Mottley

Re her command.

 

Two ‘T’s to Mottley

And just one to her crew,

Motley they are,

Not much they can do.

 

Stewart Russell © August 16, 2023

 

A Chat with the PM

 

 

I had a chat with the PM

Across the old train line

And she was most gracious

In giving me of her time.

 

Those who live in the area

Would know Lovell’s pasture,

Mention the old train line

And they get the picture.

 

She was clearly pensive

As I shared from my heart

And she was an attentive listener

From the very start.

 

I told her I didn’t like her

And then I explained

But as I looked into her eyes

There was no pain.

 

As a matter of fact

She said she understood

And I must confess to you,

I wondered how she could.

 

Almost everything I said

She surprisingly agreed with

And I was most amazed

As it was a lengthy list.

 

I did most of the talking

And she listened well,

She showed genuine interest

I could definitely tell.

 

 

It was like a dream

This audience with the PM

But finally, she had to go

And it came to an end.

 

As you may have guessed

That was my fault,

For I suddenly awoke

And the dream came to a halt.

 

For a moment there

It had felt so real

And had I kept on sleeping

It would have continued

Without fail.

 

Stewart Russell © May 19, 2021