Not Just Another Specie

 

 

Animal, plant or thing

A game we used to play,

As children growing up in school

Back in my day.

 

The alphabet was used

Going from A to Z

With the appropriate letter chosen

For each category.

 

Animal, plant or thing,

Human was excluded

But now with so-called science

Human is included.

 

A human is an animal,

Just another specie

Thus, scientists have placed it

In this category.

 

But I beg to differ

Though not a scientist,

Let’s show you from the Creator

What they have missed.

 

Which of the animals

Can it be said

It was created in God’s image?

Tell me, well-read.

 

 

 

Created in God’s image

The Bible pointed out,

Genesis 1 verse 27 leaves me

In no doubt.

 

And God created Man

In His image,

In the image of God, it affirms,

Created he him.

 

Not a single animal

Had such a privilege

To have been created, my friend,

In God’s image.

 

Image does not mean

We look like God

But in us, some of His attributes

He has installed.

 

And he sent His Son

Fashioned as a man

And in fulness of time executed

Salvation's plan.

 

 

 

For which of the animals

Did Christ die

When on that old rugged cross

He was crucified? 

 

Unlike the animals

We have a mind,

We are aware of the Creator

As well as time.

 

We are creative

And uniquely so,

This uniqueness in myriad ways

Around us shows.

 

 

 

We can relate to God

And upon Him call

And even trust Him to lift us up

Whenever we fall.

 

Which of the animals

Is self-aware

And can show beyond instinct

That they care?

 

Which one has a will

And a conscience too

And plans beyond the moment

Like me and you?

 

Not a single animal

Must be the reply,

It was for humanity that Christ

Suffered and died.

 

 

 

Created in his image

Meaning you and me;

We are not just another specie,

We are humanity.

 

Stewart Russell © November 23, 2025

Internet Dependency

 

 

Can you remember a time

When there was no Internet?

When there were long queues to battle

And patrons were vexed?

 

Especially on paydays

When the queues were extra long

And you took time off from work

Or when lunchtime bound?

 

I remember as a teacher

Early each payday morning

I would be standing outside the bank

Awaiting its opening.

 

On being dispatched

I would quickly head to school

In my attempt to be an example

In not breaking my rule.

 

The rule to be punctual

That I had taught my pupils

Since I felt to be chronically unpunctual

Was also an evil.

 

Do not shoot me down,

That was just how I felt

And regarding people and their time

That’s how I dealt.

 

 

 

But the time did come

When the Internet arrived

And today in most business ventures

Online is the drive.

 

Cheques are moving out

And we do business online

And this saves not only a lot of effort

But also saves time.

 

Less paper and stamps

As letters turn to emails,

And now we chat on WhatsApp, etc.,

Without fail.

 

 

 

We order from overseas

And we pay online

And when everything goes right

Parcels arrive on time.

 

Online text, voice and video

Most of us enjoy,

Not to mention the many gadgets

We now have as toys.

 

Little ones and even adults

Exercise their thumbs

As they play games on the Internet

For their daily runs.

 

 

 

And when Wi-Fi drops out

We are the proverbial fish

That wriggles and squirms around

With a singular wish.

 

Oh, for that water of life

That we call the Internet!

When it is up and running properly

All our needs are met.

 

Since we have at our disposal

The World-Wide-Web,

Books are decreasing alarmingly

As like spiders we’re fed.

 

 

 

Whatever we want to know

We can now turn to AI,

Artificial Intelligence is the bomb

Whether truth or lie.

 

We don’t have to think,

AI can do everything for us

And soon AI will become the god

We believe in and trust.

 

Don’t make light, I adjure you,

Of the preceding verse,

It is surely where we are headed

And for what we thirst. 

 

 

 

It is a dependency

That is becoming more stark

And sometimes I can’t help but feel

It is getting dark.

 

Can you remember a time

When there was no Internet?

Well, there are still long queues online

And patrons are vexed.

 

Stewart Russell © September 29, 2025

 

My Poor Memory

 

 

I have a poor memory

That won’t let me forget

Especially things that are negative

I haven’t dealt with yet.

 

I had it from at school

Relating to my homework,

I forgot, I would tell my teacher,

But this never worked.

 

I wished it were true

But then I knew it was not,

For whenever I tried this trick

I always got caught.

 

 

My poor memory

Goes by another name,

Known as a convenient memory

But it is all the same.

 

Some would often say,

“Oh, that one slipped me,”

Re what they wanted to forget,

Though unconvincingly.

 

But a poor memory

Only works for the bad

When sorry-state situations

Are all I have had. 

 

 

Who wants to remember

The bad they want to forget,

Especially horrible memories

Unresolved yet?

 

A poor memory is best

To deal with such

Though trying hard to forget

You remember as much.

 

 

Forget it and move on

Is the advice often given

Regarding unfortunate situations

Whenever they happen.

 

Though easily said

But very difficult to do,

I’ve adopted a poor memory,

How about you?

 

Stewart Russell © March 16, 2025

 

What Encouragement!

 

 

What encouragement it is

To promise someone that’s down

Something not likely to happen?

They must think I’m a clown.

 

Politicians do it everyday

And especially at Election time

And they mostly get away with it

Particularly with the blind.

 

Christians do it as well

Like when they tell you to pray,

It’s their solution to every problem,

It’s their affordable get-away.

 

The apostle James mentions it:

Send the mendicant away,

More than likely he’ll be satisfied

If I tell him I will pray.

 

I may have the means to help

But prayer will do so much more

Than giving him from my abundance

Before I let him go.

 

Think of someone in pain

Moaning and groaning in anguish,

What great encouragement is it

To leave them with a wish?

 

I can see you are in great pain

But you know, it could be worse,

You could be in yonder churchyard

In the back of a hearse.

 

Or you go to church a Sunday

Weighed down with worldly care

And the preacher beats up upon you

Trying to convince you he cares.

 

 

What great encouragement

Blaming people for their woe!

You are getting just what you deserve,

Change or there will be more.

 

What encouragement is it

To give a man who has no feet

The most expensive pair of shoes

To walk on the dusty streets?

 

 

Or to promise 100 buses

That will be arriving next year

To sort out a critical present challenge

That many commuters fear.

 

Like the loss of employment

Because workers arrive late

And children missing time from school

And currently not up to date.

 

What encouragement is it

To blame the last Government

For all we are experiencing now

In our present torment?

 

Two elections since

And nothing much has changed

At least, for the most vulnerable,

Don’t you think this strange?

 

 

What encouragement is it

For the at-risk people living here

With all the shooting and the killing

To be told it’s worse elsewhere?

 

What encouragement is it

To pay exorbitant salaries to some

While the employable unemployed

Keeps on getting none?

 

Paying a barrage of Ministers,

Not to mention several consultants

Out of the Barbadian tax payers’ coffers

To sustain their extravagance.

 

And to boot, before I finish,

The middle class is being wiped out,

What encouragement is there in this?

None without a doubt!

 

 

What encouragement is it

To promise that better will come

And this for the last several years

When to-date there is none?

 

Pseudo encouragement I call it,

It's only in the mind

But it never rolls out in actual fact

At any given time.

 

Stewart Russell © May 1, 2024

The Forks of Life

 

 

From the cradle to the grave

Decisions must be made,

The road of life is full of forks

At every turn they pervade.

 

Picture a straight road if you will

That’s smooth and also flat

Then picture life and you will find

It’s nothing remotely like that.

 

Life is puzzling from the start

Even at the point of birth,

Bitter and sweet for mother and child

As the child comes into the earth.

 

Even then the forks emerge

Regarding that child’s upkeep,

In a way he decides when he will eat

And when he will fall asleep.

 

This conflicts oft with mother’s plan

Especially during the night

And when she would rather be asleep

Baby is noisy and bright.

 

From post-natal stage to toddler

And then off he goes to school,

The forks become more prevalent

In light of the many school rules.

 

Rules at home and rules at school

Sometimes bring about conflict,

Such is the nature of these forks

That sometimes he even slips.

 

Out of primary and into secondary

Then on to tertiary he might go

But of the forks there is no ease

They come at a greater flow.

 

Decisions are a must

As forks increase in number and in type

And the young adult must manage well

The peer pressure and the hype.

 

Manoeuvers become more difficult

Circumstances manipulate the mind,

The forks are now multifaceted

And the way becomes hard to find.

 

A balance between recreation and work

And the other tensions of life,

Building a family comes into view

And the choosing of a wife.

 

Major forks are in the road ahead

Now more than himself to consider,

Decisions to be made on his behalf

And choices regarding another.

 

Not quite as simple as what to eat

Or wondering what to wear,

Not the mundane things of growing up

But now managing stress and fear.

 

Fear that comes with the competition

Fear of making a wrong turn,

The need to always be ahead

And critical decision-making learn

 

Less time deciding which fork to take

Less time to negotiate,

A decision is a must in the given time

A greater chance for a mistake.

 

Impossible to confront that fork again

And take the alternate path

But a lesson learnt before moving on

May be applied to the following task.

 

 

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

These are the many forks of life

Negotiate them with deliberate care

And hence minimize your strife.

 

Consider now I admonish you

The most critical fork of all,

Take the wrong turn regarding this

And you are in for an eternal fall.

 

There is a road that we must take

As long as Jesus tarries

And the fork we take is critical

To the deciding of our destiny.

 

Accept God’s provision in his Son

And on eternal life lay hold,

Maintain your hold on the devil’s cloak

And you are sure to lose your soul.

 

Stewart Russell © May 2018

 

Treating the Symptoms

Each time we fix a symptom

The problem gloats,

It knows we have done nothing

Nothing of note.

It makes fun of us

Knowing it is still there

And when the plaster is removed

We will have the same fear.

All the day long

We battle the symptom

Meanwhile, the problem worsens

Claiming victim after victim.

A panadol will mask the pain

Just for a while

But the problem persists,

That is just its style.

The symptom is the discomfort

That gives us a warning

That something is wrong

And it needs attending.

Treat to the symptom, yes,

But don’t stop at that,

To arrest the problem

You have got to act.

Two approaches can be used

To problem solve,

I will highlight both

But please become involved.

The first is preventative

And this is always the best,

An once of prevention...

I am sure you know the rest.

The second is curative

The one mostly used,

Sometimes long after

There has been much abuse.

We ignore the symptoms

In our little children,

We think they are funny

It is no problem.

They lie and they steal

And we think they are smart

And as they get older,

They perfect the art.

They use expletives

Which we laughingly rebuke,

They laugh back with us

And we think they are cute.

They disobey us

And we threaten them

But as far as we are concerned

That is no problem.

Then they become defiant

And we cuss them out,

Now they are getting to us

So we begin to shout.

Next, we get a call

To come to the school

And we think to ourselves

The teacher must be a fool.

I have to work

I can not lose a day’s pay,

That will have to wait

Until some other day.

And besides all that

They are picking on my child,

Because all along

His behavior we denied.

On leaving school

Having wasted his years

He becomes the most wanted

Criminal out there.

  

I still grieve for a child

Whom I taught at a school,

He took great delight

In flouting the rules.

Today he is in prison

And is currently on death row

And if I call his name

You will certainly know.

This gives me no pleasure

Having taught him,

I too treated the symptoms

Instead of the problem.

Knee-jerk reactions

When something happens,

We treat the symptom

But seldom the problem.

Stewart Russell © November 2019