Why Stop the Crime?
A poetic historical kaleidoscope of crime in
The Bahamas
By Barrington H. Brennen,
2001
Why stop the crime when
aforetime our parents were sold to please the greed of some?
Why stop the crime when shipwreck
looting blessed our islands homes?
Why stop the crime when
bootlegging enriched stores and banks?
Why stop the crime when drug
smuggling bought pools and tanks?
Why stop the crime when slapping
a wife proves the status of manhood?
Why stop the crime when
neglecting a child brings no shame to the neighborhood?
Why stop the crime when getting
pregnant in school strengthens the status of youth?
Why stop the crime when aborting
a baby is proof of womanhood?
Why think of values,
companionship, and family?
These are not necessary in a land
where people are lonely?
Why stop the crime when having
sex with an infant is proof of a father’s authority?
Why stop the crime when a father
getting his daughter pregnant is proof of his virility?
Why stop the crime when raping a
girl is the joke in the schools corridors?
Why stop the crime when molesting
a boy will never reach the courtroom doors?
Why stop the crime when cheating
on your spouse is encouraged by people everywhere?
Why stop the crime when lying to
your wife is not a shameful thought to bear?
Why stop the crime when disowning
your husband is not a terrible idea?
Why stop the crime when having
sex with the boss is not a shameful way to gain tenure?
Why think of integrity, honesty
and trust?
These are not necessary in our
land of lust.
Why stop the crime when lying to
Customs and Immigration will only save money?
Why stop the crime when people in
authority smuggle in their own machinery?
Why stop the crime when island
economies are developed by the sale of illegal stuff?
Why stop the crime when you only
get respect when you are acting ruff?
Why stop the crime when pastors
steal church money and get away with it?
Why stop the crime when church
members thrive on shady business?
Why stop the crime when it is a
blessing not to give but to appeal?
Why stop the crime when it
encourages the one who steals?
Why think of integrity, honesty
and trust?
These are not necessary in our
land of lust?
Why stop the crime when men claim
scriptural authority for treating women with disdain?
Why stop the crime when Christian
churches have said that women must suffer greater pain?
Why stop the crime when men get
more power through the submission of women?
Why stop the crime when men
insist that male leadership is always better for making a living?
Why stop the crime when it was
not my child that random bullets hit?
Why stop the crime when the
scream of a neighbors’ fright sounds like a movie clip?
Why stop the crime when stolen
cars and appliances are not the responsibility of the culprits.
Why stop the crime when many who
live in ivory towers seem not to care a bit?
What profits would we gain by
stopping the crime when we have gained so much from it all the time?
Why think of pain, loneliness,
and fear?
Why think of the tragedy our
children bear?
Why think of life loss if life
isn’t much?
Why think of dysfunctional
families if family isn’t much?
Could it be that we were poisoned
through generation in time
By the greed and lust of power
hungry minds?
What is the antidote to the
poison of passivity and greed?
It must be a mental metamorphosis
to take the lead.
If we continue to be poised by
the greed for power,
Our nation will die and we would
not even realize it’s a goner;
Because a crime isn’t a crime to
the unchanged mind,
Unless there is a re-creation of
our lives and minds.
Then, and only then, will we find
the power to stop the crime.
