Monday, March 18, 2024

Hong Kong Lament

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DEMOCRACY

 

Hong Kong Lament

 

If you’d like to see what the future holds

Take a good long look at Hong Kong

When democracy is bought and sold

The future won’t be long

 

In the name of law and order

Dissent defined as treason

If you live under the oppressor’s thumb

You don’t give them a reason

 

To speak your mind in any setting

Is to take a giant chance

There are many who are suffering

For taking a dissident stance

 

If you think it could not happen here

Consider the choice we face

An elder and an autocrat

The choice is a disgrace

 

Choose one and it’s a gamble

Choose the other and it’s assured

The sound of freedom running

Will be the last thing that we heard

 


Sunday, March 17, 2024

In Praise of Autonomy

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY


In Praise of Autonomy

 

When our former president

Who shall not be named

Gives praise to a foreign autocrat

He should be ashamed

 

Viktor Orban of Hungary

Is a cruel and ruthless leader

Whose crackdown on democracy

Should terrify every reader

 

A man who praises dictators

Is telling us too much

Unless you want dictatorship

This man is out of touch

 

He proclaims himself above the law

All glory to his self

If you dare to oppose him

He’ll send you straight to hell

 

We’ll lose our treasured freedom

To speak out in dissent

One day we’ll simply wake up

And wonder where it went

 

Saturday, March 16, 2024

The John Lewis Bridge

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: EQUAL RIGHTS


The John Lewis Bridge

 

Edmund Pettus was a leader of the KKK

They named a bridge after him

And on that bridge years later

They beat the hell out of black marchers

Marching for equal rights

Marching for the right to vote

Marching to be recognized

 

In an enlightened age there would be

no Edmund Pettus Bridge

It would be torn down stone by stone

Iron beam by iron beam

Scattered across the nation

Placed in museums and town halls

to remind us of our former ignorance

 

Instead let us remove the name of

Edmund Pettus and replace it with

one of the brave souls beaten on that

fateful day: The John Lewis Bridge

 

Let it be remembered by all who cross

the price that was paid that day

 

Let it serve as a reminder of the triumph

of the human spirit

The power of light over the darkness

Of good over evil

 

Friday, March 15, 2024

The Invisible Hand

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE


The Invisible Hand

 

We have lost Ukraine

Or we are surely losing

Because our Republicans in congress

No longer feel the pain

They suffer from an invisible hand

Implanted deep within their brains

The hand of their invisible leader

Who himself suffers an invisible hand

Implanted within his brain

 

We are losing every battle

And soon we will lose the war

As the Republicans in congress plead:

  We have given enough already

  We cannot give you more

But the truth is another story

About a cancer in the halls of glory

The hands that pull the purse strings

Have closed the funding door

 

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Insurrection Blues Redux

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: INSURRECTION


Insurrection Blues Redux

 

Want to start an insurrection?

Want to turn over an election?

If you’re Donald Trump you’re fine

If you’re not you’re doing time

 

Asking congress to do their job

Of interpreting the constitution

Is an abdication of their duty:

Delivering just restitution

To a man guilty of treason

The court offers no solution

It goes beyond all reason

It’s a wicked convolution

In a convoluted season

 

You had the duty to decide

The pressing question of the day

Is Donald Trump qualified

Or is that a price he has to pay

For inciting insurrection

Back on Insurrection Day?

 

There are three levels of the law

One is for the rich

For whom the court is made of straw

Another is for the poor

For whom brutality is raw

A third is for the Donald

Whose defiance is in awe

 

The man is guiltier than guilt

The truth is plain to see

The Court is in his pocket

It’s a sad reality

 

(re: Supreme Court V. Colorado.)

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Supreme Injustice Redux

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY


Supreme Injustice Redux

 

When you must explain to the Court

Why their rulings are painfully wrong

It’s plain to see by reason’s eye

These judges do not belong

 

Of course the states should not decide

Who can run for president

That’s why it went to the high court

Though you’re so afraid of precedent

 

So it’s another lame decision

By the worst court of our times

Whose decisions are so partisan

It is hard to make them rhyme

 

It seems we all must suffer through

The next few generations

For those who were wrongly chosen

To the highest court of the nation

 

(The Court rules in favor of

Trump’s eligibility in Colorado.)

Monday, March 11, 2024

Extreme

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE


Extreme

 

Snowstorms from west to east

Fire across the Texas plains

The gods of weather have a feast

All remedies in vain

 

The weather patterns are extreme

In every state and season

From brutal storms to wildfire

We all know well the reason

 

The planet is not angry

The gods are not upset

But the polar caps are melting

And the wetlands are too wet

 

We’ve tired of explaining

To people who do not care

The era of humans is waning

Can’t say it isn’t fair

 

Of course it could be different

If we change our course real soon

But no one seems inclined

To do what we must do