Regarding Time

 

 

Time is so intriguing

In particular, the things we say,

And what is most engaging,

We say them every day.

 

Time had a beginning

Thus, the beginning of time,

And as a result, I must conclude,

There must be a timeline.

 

But what is its origin?

I mean the origin of time

And, I suppose it has an ending;

This too is on my mind.

 

The ending of time

Provokes much discussion,

It is a constant contemplation

In Christendom.

 

It is biblically derived

Per the belief of Christians

And according to Genesis chapter 1

The first item of creation.

 

 

 

In the beginning, God…

God must be the first cause

Or else tell me my dear Mr. Watson,

Who else but God?

 

Two are out of the way:

Beginning and ending of time,

Now I hurry on to the other sayings

That now occupy my mind.

 

In no particular order,

I shall list the other nine

So that we can have a great debate

Before running out of time.

 

For everyone

That is born on planet earth,

There is a definitive timeline

Beginning at their birth.

 

A beginning and ending

Re one’s timeline,

Though some vehemently will argue

One can die before his time.

 

In contrast to this

Some will take a different line

And will often suggest to us

The idea of borrowed time.

 

 

Thus, we’d have a bank

From which to borrow time,

Such a loan will be guaranteed

To stop the next chime.

 

And so, as in borrowing time

There is also finding time,

All I can say is if you ever lose yours

Don’t you claim mine.

 

For then, for sure,

I would be behind time

For even now I’ve so much to do,

Time is on my mind.

 

If I had a time machine

I could try making time,

I could then put up with long queues

When standing in line.

 

Of course, as you know,

This is wasting time

Especially at Government offices

When we wait in line.

 

This one takes the cake

And is always on my mind,

Some people have so little to do

They end up killing time.

 

 

There should be a penalty

For people that kill time,

And so, I do declare at this juncture,

Killing time is a crime.

 

Like as for a homicide

The penalty is incarceration:

A lifetime behind the iron gates

Of Barbados’ state prison.

 

Now to time’s funeral

In the following obituary,

For given the amount of killing time

There shouldn’t be any.

 

 

We regret to announce

The death of time,

So many people are killing it

It’s the end of the line.

 

A service to be held

And its burial thereafter,

After which there’s no more time!

Please, no laughter.

 

Time is a line segment

With a beginning and end,

It’s straight from one to the other

And there is no bend.

 

No diversions,

Just “will happen events”,

Can’t go back and change a thing

However much one repents.

 

 

There is no such thing

As infinite time,

Time has a beginning and end,

It’s time we fall in line.

 

Regarding spending time,

It’s not dollars and cents

And those who attempt to buy it

Are not making sense.

 

 

Buying time is a ‘no-no’,

I am sure you know

But due to the fact we forget,

I must tell you so.

 

There’s no borrowed time,

No finding or losing,

No buying time or spending time

No chance of refusing.

 

There is no killing time,

No behind time or in front,

But a definite running out of time,

Sorry to be blunt.

 

There is wasting time

And we do this a lot

Such that when we should be walking

Then we have to trot.

 

All this we do with time

Though mostly in our mind,

They are usually impossible ways

In which we regard time.

 

Stewart Russell © March 8, 2025

 

Just Like That

 

 

In a moment

In the twinkling of an eye

No time to prepare

Oh me, oh my!

 

I had a chance,

In fact, many a chance

But I blew every one

Now I can’t advance.

 

Many a message

About Jesus’ return,

I never doubt them

But each I spurned.

 

 

I thought,

No, I didn’t think

It would be just like that-

Quicker than a wink!

 

At a precise time

I didn’t give it a thought

Jesus returned

Now I am so distraught.

 

No church for me

Not with those hypocrites,

I was just content

To be a critic.

 

I was there

Or just there about,

That was enough for me

Now I am left out.

 

 

I gambled on time

And time ran out

And of the fact I lost

There is no doubt.

 

Just like that

The end of the line

And this rejecter

Has been left behind.

 

 

And what is worse is,

I believed the Word

But I never mixed faith

With what I had heard.

 

Head belief alone,

Didn’t reach my heart

And as a result

I never made a start.

 

So near yet so far

I assumed and presumed,

The Saviour returned

Now I am doomed.

 

Clearly my friend

This event has not occurred,

You have a chance

Do not be deterred. 

 

Take Jesus now

Before he returns,

Benefit from the lesson

That you have just learned.

 

There is a timeline

And this event is a fact,

Jesus will return

Just like that!

 

Stewart Russell © January 2019

 

Fate Is What It Is

 

 

“As fate would have it,”

I’ve often heard uttered

Or, “Don’t tempt fate,”

When daredevilry takes another.

 

As though fate is a spirit

Just hovering around

Waiting for some opportunity

To take someone down.

 

A certain resignation

To some predestined destiny

Like “Que sera-sera”

“What will be will be”.

 

Like fate is always bad

Though very often it is

Causing us more often than not

That bad to reminisce.

 

 

Fate is a timeline

On which there are events:

Some good and some bad

Whatever one’s intent.

 

Which suggests to me:

We can determine our fate

Depending on the lifestyle

That we choose to take.

 

Fate is an outcome

But based on the process too,

Fate is actions and outcomes

Aka the things we do.

 

While we live life forward

We analyze it from the back

And however brilliant our analysis

It’s after we’ve been trapped.

  

When it is the good fate

We make boastful claims,

But when it is ill fated

We apportion the blame.

 

 

But back to the timeline

And those inevitable events:

The good ones we plan for

And the bad ones we resent.

 

Some lives seem plagued

With an unfair share of the bad,

And these are oft inundated

With fate that makes one sad.

 

For many others, however,

The opposite holds true,

These enjoy the good life

Regardless of what they do.

 

Still there are others

That experience a balanced mix

As though already weighed out

And appropriately affixed.

 

For the most part, though,

Group 2 is the hapless one

Forced into resignation

As though all hope is gone.

 

 

People make their own fate

I have heard some tell

But some did the right things

And life was a living hell.

 

To me this is unexplainable

Though some try to explain,

Fate is what it is

Whether pleasure or pain.

    

It comprises every event

That will inevitably occur:

Some are good and some bad

But to the bad we mostly refer.

 

The behaviours we practise

Constitute these timeline events

As well as the outcomes

Whether or not our intent.

 

Fate is every action we take

As well as every outcome,

All registered on the timeline

Whether to come or already done.

 

Stewart Russell © June 2020

The Swiftness of Time

One month has gone

Just like that!

Today, February 1^st

Affirms that fact

I wonder what

Is responsible for this

Time going so fast

There’s much we miss

We make big plans

Like we have time

At the end of the day

Our tasks form a line

The days are shorter

It appears to be

And time is winding down

It seems to me

Maybe it’s because

There’s so much to do

Far more to do

Than we’ve been use to

Or maybe if you please

Time sped up a bit

And the earth is spinning

At a faster clip

Or some may argue

It’s all in the mind

This whole idea

Of the speeding time

Whatever it is

It has occurred to me

That the way we feel

Becomes our reality

If as the Bible says

Time has an end

Then ever since the beginning

It must be shorter my friend

It cannot get longer

That is clear to me

God has drawn the line

And that’s what it’ll be

No wonder it’s appointed

Everything that occurs

Like dots on a line

They cannot be deferred

What’s done is done

And what’s not is not

Time doesn’t unwind

No matter what

If you have a feeling

You’re almost out of time

It most likely is

It’s further down the line

More critical too

Is an individual’s line

Each one of us

Has an allotted time

One may have doubts

About God’s timeline

But everyday he gets closer

To the end of his time

The swiftness of time

Is obvious to me

It should be to you too

I trust you can see

Time is not indefinite

As some may believe

But eternity is

Do not be deceive

Time is going somewhere

I want you to see

It will eventually end up

In eternity

Stewart Russell © January 2019