Tomorrow

 

I won’t be alive tomorrow

Notice I did not say might

And it is not that I sense tomorrow

Will be a dreaded plight.

 

I won’t be alive tomorrow

Of this I am very sure,

Stay with me a little while longer

And I’ll tell you more.

 

I won’t be alive tomorrow

So do not expect me to be,

If you are more fortunate than I am

You can wait around and see.

 

I won’t be alive tomorrow

This is a certain fact,

You are free to tell all you know;

Tell them I told you that.

 

I won’t be alive tomorrow

It is impossible to be,

By now surely you must be seeing

What I want you to see.

 

I won’t be alive tomorrow

But neither will you

So, whatever you have to do today

Please go ahead and do.

 

For neither you nor me

Will be alive tomorrow,

Tomorrow cannot bring for any

Either joy or sorrow.

 

 

Tomorrow is all it is:

Simply a term we use

To determine to tackle something

That today we refuse.

 

You won’t be alive tomorrow

And neither will I

But now that you understand me

None of us needs to cry.

 

I won’t be alive tomorrow

But I’m not unduly worried

For I won’t have to wait until tomorrow

To be finally buried.

 

Stewart Russell © September 27, 2024

 

No, You Don’t

 

 

You don’t know me

Though you think you do

And you can argue all day

How long I’ve been around you.

 

You don’t see me

Though you think you do

For my life is hid with Christ in God

And yours should be too.

 

You don’t understand me

Though you think you do

And I am aware in the same way

I don’t understand you.

 

Here is a phenomenon

We should not less count:

The fact we have been washed

In the blood of the fount.

 

 

The blood of Jesus

When he was on the cross

That flowed from his broken body

For all the lost.

 

As they knew him not

You don’t know me

For that by which you measure

Is no longer my lot.

 

I have been changed

Yes, I have been born again

And I have a new name in heaven

And a new refrain.

 

I am a kingdom child

Of the Most-High God

And no longer whom you know:

That nefarious fraud.

 

It may not be obvious

And I’m speaking of my change

But believe me, even my thinking

Has been rearranged.

 

Have a chat with those

Who are closest to me

And they will tell you I’ve changed,

Most sincerely.

 

I occasionally lapse

And like a toddler I fall

But I will not wallow in sin’s muck

No, not me at all.

 

So, you think you know me

But that is in the past,

That wandering sheep you know

Did come home at last.

 

 

Don’t be a prodigal at home

And in envy burn

Because the prodigal that roamed

Has finally returned.

 

Get to know me instead

And see what God has done,

And what the Spirit is daily doing

For me in the kingdom.

 

You don’t know me

Though you think you do

And what I am saying about you

Can be said about me too.

 

Stewart Russell © April 8, 2024

 

Under and Over

 

 

I knew them well

Well, not that well,

They were somewhat mysterious

I heard people tell.

 

I will refer to them

As under and over,

I won’t mention their watchdog

His name was Rover.

 

I know that I said

I won’t mention his name,

Are you making that an issue?

Are you insane?

 

I may have overstated it

But you don’t understand,

I am telling this story

That is the overall plan.

 

Let me get back

To over and under

And by the way it has nothing to do

With a four-leaf clover.

 

He was under weight

But she was over bearing,

They so got under your skin

You dreaded their appearing.

 

She had over anxiety

Which she under expressed

And he was overwhelmed

And much distressed.

 

Once he over excitedly said

That he underestimated her

And she over exuberantly replied,

“In that we concur.”

 

They used to live together

But operated apart,

He understated the problem

But she over shot the charts.

 

  

They quarreled excessively

And over excitedly so,

And there was nothing one knew

That the other didn’t know.

 

They reached retirement age

But refused to stay at home,

Though married for many years

Each preferred to be alone.

 

Understandably so

Since no honey was in the moon,

And with the overtones and undertones

They never sang the same tune.

 

Their relationship was under stress

And overheated most times,

He was under a cloud

And she was over inclined.

 

Interestingly, over time

The couple had underachieved,

She had overworked

But underpay she had received.

 

This was unfortunate

And he well understood

That they had overshot the mark

Choosing an upscale neighborhood.

 

I hope you understand

Though I may have overstated their case,

But be under no delusion

I wouldn’t want to be in their place.

 

 

Under and over

That is how we view life

Even though all along you thought

It was a man and his wife.

 

We often over project self

And undervalue others

But do we understand ourselves?

Well, that’s another matter.

   

Under and over

Which are you today?

Note: there is a tendency to switch

Depending on what is in the way.

 

Get over yesterday’s problem

Do not be overwhelmed,

And I will be over enthused

If you understand this poem.

 

I may be exasperating

And overly so

But that is only because

I know much more than you know.

 

I wrote it but you said it

You’re no different from me,

When we under or over look others

We are in the mirror we see.

 

 

Understand therefore

I am not underestimating you

So get over yourself

And commit to my view.

 

Stewart Russell © September 2019