Standpipe Politics with Smartie and Moron (4)

 

 

Hi Moron, wuh become o’ you?

I en see you in donkey years

And since de last time dat we talk

Another thirty-love appear.

 

Well Smartie, I went down Guyana

With a few black belly sheep

Cause I hear they doing better down dey

Cause they getting more meat.

 

Wait, wait, Moron,

What is that you say?

Wuh, if black belly sheep eating meat,

Then cows should bray.

 

Not that kind of meat, Smartie,

I meaning grass.

Down dey de grass real plentiful

And de sheep does grow fast.

 

Cause yuh know Guyana real big

And got a lot of land

So I thought I would get away from here

And work a different plan.

 

So why yuh come back here, Moron,

If down dey so good?

Yuh should o’ stan’ down in Guyana;

I really feel yuh should. 

 

  

Well Moron, since we last talk,

There was another 30-love

Cause you know back in 2018 it was like

It did come from above.

 

Judgment pon dem devils

For all the evil dey do

But I en sure dat we is all de better

Tell me, do you?

 

Smartie, I uses to tell you

That we does only change faces

And if you really examine politics,

In all o’ dum is evil traces.

 

Dum is start out real good

And mek you feel real smart

And den all of a sudden, bruggadown!

Duh does brek yuh heart.

 

When I hear bout de 30-love

I tought bout de tennis on the lawn

And den I hear somebody suh,

All de D’s gone!

 

And all I could say was,

Yuh mean dah happen again?

Not even the respectable Bishop

Could avoid de pain?

 

Cause don’t forget the PM seh

He was de party’s conscience

So wid de Bishop gone from the party,

Dah’s conscience absence.

 

  

Yes Moron, uh doan hear he,

He probably went back to de church

Cause in dey he could lick he wounds

And heal he hurts.

 

But why yuh come back

If you was doing so well?

I would o’ expect yuh to stay in Guyana

For a longer spell.

 

Well Smartie, since yuh ask,

I was forced to come back

Since uh hear black belly exportation

Run off de track.

 

How yuh mean run off de track?

Duh does go by train?

I hearing ‘bout all kinds of excuses

But that one real lame.

 

You is say by name and nature,

And that I could never change

But I will tell you something, Smartie,

You real strange. 

 

Run off de tracks is a saying

Meaning tings en going as plan

It en nuttin to do with train transportation

Fuh black belly rams.

 

Yuh see, de breeding slow down

And dey can’t export

Cause dey would deplete the numbers

And dat ain’t sport.

 

They have to build back up

And get de breeding gine again

Plus, I also read in de Barbados Today

Animal husbandry wane.

 

De young people en intrested

And it too risky

Cause all yuh want is a little bad weather

And the project is history.

 

I see whey yuh coming from

But Moron, you gine give up too

Cause food importation seem to be

The more popular view?

 

Not as long as God gih me breath

And trust me, dah is true,

I aim, God being my helper, to do

All uh can do.

 

  

Moron, I want we to end

Just like we begin

Cause you know better than most

Politics is my ting.

 

Thirty-love when you did hey,

Thirty-love when you did away,

You tink another thirty-love coming up?

Wuh you say?

 

Smartie, dis is what I tink:

Thorne will end up like Atherley

Cause Thornie cahn even win up there

In dah St. John constituency. 

 

So, just like Atherley lost

Thornie will lose too

Cause both of them change constituency

And dis is a wrong ting to do.

 

Best chance, I tell you,

Is stay wid who put in you,

Don’t change constituency or cross de floor;

Dah’s my humble view?

 

Moron, old fella, well said,

De PM got this sown up tight

And unless a few more from de BLP defect,

Any single MP will lose de fight.

 

 

 

Atherley then Thornie

And after Thornie, who next?

I must confess that I don’t have a clue

But de situation got me vex.

 

 

 

Cause we need a replacement

But I can’t see any,

The so-called DLP terribly fragmented

And is a multi-party.

 

Dah’s more support for de BLP

Thus, another thirty-nil

And uh really fed up with the BLP

Cause I had muh fill.

 

Dum is bare talk dese days

And passing nuff foolish laws

And de most vulnerable suffering so much

Duh grabbing at every straw.

 

  

So, Moron, dah is all fuh now,

You can have the last say,

Uh glad this standpipe still standing here

So we could meet today.

 

Same here, Smartie,

All de best wid de black belly sheep

And I trust somebody come up wid a plan

To feed all o’ we.

 

Stewart Russell © November 16, 2025

Hobson’s Choice?

 

 

 

 

When the choice becomes

To vote or not to vote,

That we are in extremely, dire straits,

We should seriously note.

 

A Hobson’s choice

Is sometimes subtle

Appearing to be multiple choices

Of similar proposals.

 

Politics in Barbados

Is at an all-time low,

Democracy is severely challenged

And one party vetoed.

 

Such that at present

There is really one choice

Though there is a particular show

That has a loud voice.

 

If local elections

Were to be called today,

Hobson’s to vote or not to vote

Would be at play.

 

For the alternate party

Has fallen from grace

And regarding its former pomp

There is no trace.

 

In fighting is greater

Than that from without

And that they are not shipshape

Is without a doubt.

 

A tale of two leaders

Is yet to be resolved

Both former B’s around whom

The issue revolves.

 

 

 

One of course,

More recent than the other

And thus, having political clout

Being the other’s bother.

 

A voice in Parliament

When there was none

But pride despite political poverty

Continues its run.

 

Rejecting the hand-up

First offered by the PM

And after welcoming the crossover,

Exacerbating the problem.

 

Of the registered voters

Only 45% voted in 2022,

Compared to the election of 2018

This was a relative few.

 

 

 

Back then 60% voted

And the DLP was voted out,

That 30-nil showed utter contempt

Was without a doubt.

 

 

There was 30-nil again

In the year 2022

As 15% fewer electorate voted

Supporting my view.

 

Over thirty thousand votes

Were lost by the BLP

But the DLP gained no headway

Losing 3000 approximately.

 

A projection to 2027

Offers even less hope

There will be a larger voter turnout

To polling stations to vote.

 

For which party to vote

Was the consideration

But now, to vote or not to vote

Is our consternation.

 

 

 

Hobson’s choice

I guess one can say

For whether we vote or not vote,

It will be BLP’s day.

 

Thirty-nil in 2018

And thirty-nil in 2022

Will likely be thirty-nil in 2027;

What is your view?

 

Stewart Russell © August 17, 2024

 

Your Vote

 

 

Personal, Private & Powerful!

The significance of your vote,

It carries a tremendous responsibility;

Fellow Barbadians, Take note!

 

There is one vote per person:

Only one belongs to you,

It is a personal vote, therefore,

You decide what to do.

 

No one can cast it for you

Hence, you must cast it in person,

And having cast your only vote

For you the matter is done.

 

It is really a private matter

And should be treated as such,

None needs feel they can buy it

It’s not a matter of how much.

 

Make no promises to any one

Your vote is not for sale,

And any who tries to coerce you

Report them without fail.

 

A vote is a powerful medium

In that it gives you a say,

It says that you are important

If only for one day.

 

It’s the power that you have,

Though in a moment it is gone!

Then you must wait for five years

Before you get another one.

 

Unless of course,

With a year and a half short,

The command from the General

Is a command to abort.

 

And so, you get a chance

To cast your vote again,

To elect a totally new Government

Or let the incumbent remain.

 

I am still quite baffled

As to why this election was called,

I heard what the PM said

But that cannot be all.

 

Given the huge vote of confidence

Only three and half years ago,

It is not making sense

But that’s just my say so.

 

A new mandate, in my view,

Was not necessary at this time,

Fulfilling one’s manifesto promises

Must be paramount in one’s mind.

 

Five years is an elected term:

Not one and half years short,

It is like kind of abandoning ship

Or something of that sort.

 

What will a new mandate change?

It is likely to be no change

And whatever it was that occurred,

Is likely to happen again.

 

I trust it won’t be thirty-nil

We can’t take that again,

Too much power in one party’s hand

Is likely to cause us pain.

 

So, B’s cast your votes

And D’s, you cast your votes too,

And all of the other parties

Do what you have to do!

 

And those who are undecided

That is your option too,

Do not let anyone ridicule you

If voting is not your view.

 

Personal, Private & Powerful!

The significance of your vote,

It carries a tremendous responsibility;

Fellow Barbadians, Take note!

 

Stewart Russell © January 14, 2022