It’s Tic not Tac

 

 

Quite a number of words

You will find end in tic,

Let’s go where relics are found:

Let’s go up in the attic.

 

We should examine them thoroughly

Hence, let us be analytic!

Or, we can number them

As in Arithmetic.

 

We can arrange some of them

In an acrostic

Maybe to spell out a word

Like charismatic.

 

You get to choose your words

As in democratic

And let no one accuse you

Of being dogmatic.

 

Here is a good opportunity

To engage a critic,

Hopefully that one’s criticism

Will not be too drastic.

 

One exposed to harsh criticism

Can become a skeptic

And his appraisal of another

Could be rather septic.

 

On the other hand

One can become overly ecstatic

And, if not kept under control,

Can also become problematic.

 

 

Persons opposed to criticism

Are often seen as egotistic

And the attempt to convince such persons

May be rather optimistic.

 

This attempt to be poetic

May have been somewhat pathetic

But I beg your indulgence:

Please do not be sarcastic.

 

For me right now

That would be too traumatic

But I would not object to any treatment

That is therapeutic.

 

 

To write a poem on tic

Cannot be very romantic

And I dare say in my own defense

Nor particularly scholastic.

 

It is not about the specific,

Rather more like the sporadic

And since I am my worst critic,

It’s certainly not terrific.

 

This is symptomatic

Of the analytic

Whose approach is rather idiotic

Not to mention ballistic.

 

As one who loves the aesthetic

I can only be apologetic

For what must be the frantic mind

Of a mental paralytic.

 

An abundance of static brain cells

That are no longer dynamic,

However, help is on the way…

Don’t panic!

 

Stewart Russell © June 19, 2021

 

Systemic Symptomatic Problematic

 

 

Three intriguing words

Pertaining to us,

Three mind-boggling words

Causing great fuss.

 

Integrally related

But frequently messed up

Three nerve-wracking words

In a bitter cup.

 

It is notably systemic

To treat to the symptomatic

Whereby the systemic

Becomes problematic.

 

 

Take for example, if you will,

The chastening of a child

Without ever trying to find out

Why he behaves defiled.

 

Children are easily led;

We know this quite well

And they adopt the lewd behaviour

That the adults sell.

 

Crop-over for example

And our “wuk-up” culture

Shown on our television stations

Leaving a vivid picture.

 

Indelible on their minds

As being desirable

But yet when they display it

It is detestable.

 

The skimpy costumes

Where allegedly we pay more for less

And the children see all this

That we regard as the best.

 

We promote the negative

With a “don’t you dare touch!

Noting that this is only for the adults”

But they don’t see it as such. 

 

Then we treat the symptoms

That we have caused

Hoping beyond wildest expectations

To put the problem on pause.

 

“Too many guns in this place”

Remember the calypso?

But that was a long time ago

Now, daily they grow.

 

 

And we state the obvious

But then deny the same

With a “there’s no cause for alarm”

When it’s causing us pain.

 

Nearly thirty for the year

While for last year twenty-three

Raising the call for spiritual reflection

By the political authority.

 

And I ask myself,

What do we hope to gain

When we avoid touching the areas

That are causing the pain.

 

Who bring in the guns?

For sure not the shooters

Though the constabulary often called

For willing whistle-blowers.

 

A whole lot of ideas

Swirling around out there

But regarding touching the untouchables,

No one dares.

 

 

The cat is well known

But who will attach the bell?

Not one man, sorry, mouse bold enough

This problem to quell.

 

Drugs are alive and well

As evidenced in our courts

But given the villains we see paraded

We have to be making sport.

 

Where the untouchables?

Not one you will see

Just the symptoms of the system

That we view evilly.

 

The children and the youth

Are the scourge of our land

Meanwhile, the real culprits continue

With their evil plan.

 

Yes, the problem flourishes

As we treat to the symptoms

And there is stark systemic failure

And public delirium.

 

Commendation was given

To the leadership of a school

For their proactive response to an incident

What a peculiar tool!

 

This baffled me a while

But it is what we do;

It is clearly the cart before the horse

Which is our current view.

 

 

Proactive meant before;

Now it can come after,

Maybe it is technological advancement

To encourage laughter.

 

Too tragic to be comic!

It’s no laughing matter

Given we are an ageing population

And our youth seek the hereafter.

 

They are dying daily;

Some even in their teens,

Breaking News frequently greet us

With another murder scene.

 

Meanwhile we need to do this

And we need to do that

But we cannot touch a “big wun”

And this is a fact.

 

 

 

A little birdie tells me

That they are not unknown

And that they move in places

That we also roam.

 

Anonymous is not nameless

As some may think

And the most impervious armour

Has a little chink.

 

“If you know something

Say something,” says the ad

But it is only applicable to some

And this is sad.

 

I read quite recently

In one of our tabloids

Something attributed to the Top cop

That makes me paranoid.

 

Legitimate ports of entry

Being used for illegitimacy

And officials turning a blind eye

So they wouldn’t see.

 

 

But there has to be more

To this ancient ploy

And I would not even be surprised

Who are collecting the spoils.

 

If the Top cop’s words

Are anything to go by,

Much is happening around us

And it’s being done on the sly.

 

The problem is solvable

But who will “bell the cat”?

When men are mice and retreat to holes

It’s time for a man-sized trap.

 

Systemic Symptomatic Problematic

It’s time we get it right,

A system in which symptoms are treated only,

Problems will be its plight.

 

Stewart Russell © July 17, 2024

 

Nature and Nurture

 

The former is who we are

The latter is what we become,

Nature is the work in the womb

Nurture is when that is done.

 

But they have their influence

All through one’s life

Though regarding which is stronger

Is an argument that is rife.

 

Some say it’s the former

Others come down on the latter,

Some posit we don’t have a clue

But that’s a different matter.

 

“He just like he father”

A remark we hear quite often,

And this is usually from a mother

When de boy causing problems.

 

Of course, when he is good

His mother’s nurture is applied

But when he becomes problematic

He is his father’s child.

Nature is the hereditary

Nurture is the environmental

But whichever the stronger

Boys are often trouble.

 

Nature is everyone’s origin

While nurturing builds on this,

The good one must always practise

And the bad he must resist.

 

Each one of us is a summary

Of nature and nurture combined

And I certainly have no doubt

That this is God’s design.

 

We were all born in sin

Thus, having the Adamic nature

But when we became born again

It was a different picture.

 

In the born-again believer

The nature of Christ is implanted

Thus, the miracle of salvation

Is Divinely initiated.

The Spirit endues the believer

With the nature of the risen Christ

And the nurturing of the Word

Does adequately suffice.

 

To languish in the Adamic nature

Is a definite cop-out

But in the nurture of Holy Spirit

Is a triumphant shout.

 

Hallelujah, I have found him!

Sin’s nature is dethroned!

In life or death, whichever it be,

With Jesus I am at home!

 

Stewart Russell © November 6, 2021