Just Simply Crabs

 

What a title!

What a theme!

What is he thinking?

What does he mean?

 

Just simply crabs

Like crabs in a barrel,

Or equally as striking

Like crabs in apparel.

 

The scourge of the blacks

Crabs in a barrel

Identified by appearance

Hence crabs in apparel.

 

Why no university?

Why no international bank?

Why no joint corporation?

Why this putrid tank?

 

This tank, this barrel,

Our cage, our prison,

From generation to generation

Our only possession.

 

The whites have it all

And we?  Delusion our bit,

The Chinese and Japanese:

They’ve made a hit.

 

The Jews too,

They are marching on

But the Blacks like crabs

Have little going on.

 

The Arabs like the Jews

Have come a long way

But the Blacks like crabs

Are always at bay.

 

 

Blacks patronize another

But cut against their own

And while their enterprise fails

Others have grown.

 

Like crabs in a barrel

Consigned to Whiteman’s pit,

Like crabs in apparel

The only change-cosmetic.

 

Superficial changes-

Blacks are easy to satisfy,

The others, their millions-

Blacks just get by.

 

 

Trampling one another

Desperate to get out,

Seems like one just made it

I heard him shout.

 

A shout of braggadocio

Now feeling better off,

Looking down his nose

He struts and scoffs.

 

Albeit, still in the barrel-

The crab mentality,

A mere pseudo freedom-

His stark reality!

  

A king but no kingdom

Just a mere Massa clone

But now using Massa whip

To control his own.

 

Still in Massa prison

Though having some clout

But still a crab in Massa barrel-

He hasn’t gotten out.

 

 

Closer to the top

A distance from the bottom,

But under Massa control-

That’s still his problem.

 

Hampered by melanin-

If only he were white,

He’d be rid of this barrel-

The source of his plight.

 

Blacks’ combined disunity

Coupled with Massa whip

Quells every uprising

Forcing them to quit.

 

For like iron and clay

There is no coming together,

No unified attempt

To escape this bother.

 

What’s that I hear?

Me thinks it’s a shout!

A perception but a deception-

Another’s gotten out.

 

On top maybe

But still in Massa barrel

Though of no particular note,

A change in apparel.

 

Just simply crabs

Crabs in a barrel

And of no particular note-

Crabs in apparel.

 

Stewart Russell © April 14, 2021

 

No White Jesus

 

 

 

I serve no white skin Jesus

As introduced by the white man,

My Jesus is neither white nor black

At least, according to God’s plan.

 

My Jesus has no blue eyes

As if that should really matter,

So, no more will I deal with that

To promote unnecessary chatter.

 

I will admit, however,

This was not always my stance,

I too was very strongly influenced

By what the Whites advanced.

 

 

 

 

But the Blacks too are no better

When they preach of a black Jesus,

Just like wind would stoke a fire

They end up adding to the fuss.

 

Some may argue for the Jews

That Jesus is Jewish for sure,

Well, if in his incarnation he was

I am sure he is no more.

 

For while salvation is of the Jews

It is not exclusively for the Jew,

That the Jews were its first recipients

Is the biblically stated view.

 

As regarding the ethnic Jews

I will say no more on this

But bear in mind the Bible purports

That all nations will be blessed.

 

 

 

 

God called out Abraham

To initiate His redemptive plan:

The plan of eternal salvation

Was to rescue fallen man.

 

For, as in Adam, all sinned,

In Christ all will be forgiven

That penitently come to Jesus Christ:

God’s gift sent down from heaven.

 

Colour definitively matters not

Whether red or yellow, black or white

And over emphasizing any of these

Hinders the seeing of the Light.

 

The light of the world is Jesus:

He is neither white nor black

And the sooner one acknowledges this

The sooner he gets on track.

 

There is no white or black Christ

Regardless of what a man may perceive

But a man truly needs to appreciate

It’s the Christ of Calvary he needs.

 

It is unfortunate, I must admit,

Good is often see as white

While on the other hand it is believed

That black is regarded as a blight.

 

For example: white magic is good

But black magic is evil

And in many other cases

Black is seen to be of the devil.

 

Rather unfortunate I afore said

But to people this should not apply

Since all came from the same source

And that we cannot deny.

 

 

 

 

Male and female, created God

Whether black, white or Jew,

And of what ever ethnic group you are

You need to accept this view.

 

True Christianity is colour blind

And only sees the blood,

Such are followers of Jesus Christ

Hence, the Christian brotherhood.

 

Colour can never divide them

That are all one in Jesus Christ,

Neither white nor black is good enough

Only Christ’s blood will suffice.

  

I serve no white skin Jesus

Nor in a black skin Jesus believe,

I serve the Christ, the incarnate God

That supplies my every need.

 

Do not be trapped by the trappings

Of colour, class or creed,

One, of necessity, must be born again

To be of Godly seed.

 

Stewart Russell © June 20, 2021

 

Hi Granny

 

 

I am writing this letter slow

Since I know you can’t read fast,

I am here in England; it’s cold

But I am having a blast.

 

I haven’t gone to school yet

Because I don’t know where to find one,

Everything gets lost up here

In that I am not alone.

 

We saw the sun the other day

Up here it’s a UFO,

They had forgotten what it looked like

Since it doesn’t often show.

 

I experienced a little mishap

With the washing machine,

Having thrown in my shirt and pants

That’s the last of them I’ve seen.

 

I put in my shirt

And then I pulled on the chain,

I did the same with my pants

And I never saw them again.

 

Taking a bath is quite challenging

Because it is much too cold

So back to washing my face and hands

Just like in the days of old.

 

I boarded a bus just yesterday

And had to sit at the back,

As soon as I entered the driver said

The back is for the blacks.

 

The front seats apparently

Were all made for the white

And a black doesn’t get to sit in one

Whether it is morning, noon or night.

 

One would have thought that all that stuff

Had gone out with the flood,

Our complexion might be different

But we have the same colour blood.

 

I was watching Jessie Owens

When I was writing this poem,

Once you were born black

That was a crime back then.

 

But one black man by name of Jesse

Stood up against all Germany,

Four gold medals he won

They were dumbfounded at his ability.

 

Ability knows no colour

Ability knows no creed,

Jessie showed the whole world that

When they saw his superior speed.

 

But Granny

How did I get here?

I mean writing about all this,

Let me get back to my experiences

Even though I will shorten the list.

 

Tomorrow I will go out

And look for the school again,

Today I was looking for a black school

But down came the rain.

 

Everyone knows a bajan disappears

As soon as it begins to rain,

A fire we will run to if there is one

But rain for us is like pain.

 

I probably won’t find one

Since there are all painted white,

To find a black school around this place

You would have to search at night.

 

Perhaps I will change my mind

And look for work instead

But right now Granny, I’m feeling tired

And will soon be in my bed.

 

There’re not many whites around

The dwellings where I am,

Something tells me quite clearly

That this is a deliberate plan.

 

Just before I go off to sleep

I must tell you something more,

Please don’t be mad at me, Granny

Granny, please do not be sore.

 

I had meant to send to you

A crisp five-pound note

But when I remembered to put it in

I had already sealed the envelope.

 

I hope you will forgive me, Granny

I will remember the next time,

So until I write to you again

Love from you grandson, Glyne.

 

Stewart Russell © July 2018

 

All Lives Matter

All lives matter…

To God, they certainly do:

White skin, yellow skin

Black skin or blue.

It doesn’t matter the colour

The class or the creed,

All lives matter

So let’s take that lead.

If ever you wish

You are not the oppressed

Then you are spot on

Re the awareness test.

That’s a mouthful, I guess,

Let me try to explain,

If you don’t relish my shoes

You are seeing my pain.

Some things are standard,

Par for any course:

Like human rights and fair-play

And justice of course.

If any colour or caste

Is deprived of these,

Then such lives don’t matter,

They are under siege.

If one’s colour is offensive

Then his life doesn’t matter,

Supremacists say deprive him

So we can get fatter.

Not enough room in this world

For both him and me

Unless I can derive some benefit

From his ability.

  

His life matters to me

As long as I can use him,

Until his usefulness expires

We have no problem.

Slavery still exists today

In all forms and fashion,

Oppression and suppression:

An obvious passion.

It is not easy to relinquish

The ascendancy,

When it comes to the downtrodden

I’d rather him than me.

I am sure few Whites would say,

“I wish I were black.”

And if Blacks were white

Neither would they wish that.

It is alarmingly obvious

Which is the lower estate,

It is certainly not the Whites-

They are the ones that dictate.

I wish the world were a piano

In the following way:

Blacks and Whites would make music

The way symphonics play.

Take out the black keys

There’d be no sharps and flats,

Just one major key

And, who would like that?

Only one minor key

If there were whites alone,

Remember, harmony is dependent

On a variety of tones.

God created one race

It is time that we all grasp that,

Hence, Whites you need to get it!

You are no better than Blacks.

That all lives matter

Is greater impetus to the cause

And that should be clear to all

Since it is enshrined in the laws.

In the slogan “all lives matter”

There are no racial slurs,

It speaks to harmony and integration

On this we can concur.

For the time being, however,

Black lives matter,

There are the ones being oppressed

Like “John’s head on a platter”.

Stewart Russell © June 2020

Beware the Devil’s Deception

A sprat to catch a whale

And what a whale of a catch!

That is the devil’s offering

And on to it we often latch.

Divisiveness is the sprat

Distraction is the lure

The damnation of the human soul

In spite of the Father’s cure.

The asides become the issues

And we major on the minors

And progressively the argument

Descends into ethnicity and colour.

How unfortunate the blacks!

How highly favoured the whites!

And God’s chosen people, the Jews,

Yet all languish in sin’s plight.

The Indians and the Arabs

The Chinese and the Japanese

All are destitute and naked

And afflicted by sin’s disease.

What has colour to do with it?

What has ethnicity or race?

It matters not our status or station

We are steeped in sin’s disgrace.

It’s not man’s colour but his heart

It’s not his status but his state,

It’s not his identity but Jesus Christ

That can rid him of such racial hate.

We are children of the same parents

Whether we believe this or not,

We all are offspring of Adam and Eve

And therefore one family is our lot.

It is either that or some animal:

Perhaps the monkey, the ape or chimp,

It’s up to you the choice you make

You decide how far you will sink.

  

The colour is red; the heart is white

That’s dipped in the Saviour’s blood

Christ for our crisis, Christ for our creed

Only he can change our heart

And make us good.

Superficiality is just what it is

It is only just skin deep,

Right after that the colour is red

Unless of course you’ve fallen asleep.

No such problems in the grave

It matters not sprat or whale,

If Jesus was not your Saviour and Lord

Nothing beyond death will avail.

Stewart Russell © February 2019