The Korea Problem

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

Korea(s)

 

He chose the north over the south

Dictatorship over democracy

So our alliances are in doubt

From Ukraine to the China Sea

 

Our nation can’t be counted on

It seems we’ve lost our core

Our basic founding values gone

What are we fighting for?

 

He promised no more foolish wars

He promised great prosperity

Now we’re mired on a foreign shore

With a future of austerity

 

Putin, Kim and Bolsonaro

Hungary and Turkey

We’ve turned away from NATO

And threatened our democracy

 

Some betrayals cut too deep

They cannot be forgiven

We’re afraid to go to sleep

For fear our world may end

 

Ukrainian Divide

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

Ukrainian Divide

 

The fired minister* raises objections

He calls for reinstatement

And a new wartime election

Challenging the government

Dividing representation

Threatening to foment

 

We know it’s been a long time

Without the people’s confirmation

But dividing now would be a crime

Creating chaos and destabilization

 

Ukraine has stood the test

Under massive military pressure

It’s not time to reinvest

In someone clearly lesser

 

You have problems with Zelensky

But he has handled it with zeal

What Putin wants and needs

Is an election he could steal

 

You are winning in this war

When no one thought you had a chance

It’s just not time to shut the door

Put your head down and advance

 

* Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov

 

Trouble in Paradise

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Trouble in Paradise

 

A major quake in Indonesia

A hurricane hits Hawaii

Are we suffering amnesia?

Don’t we remember the lie?

 

The warming is not real

It’s just a normal fluctuation

Mother Nature will self-heal

We’re protected in this nation

 

And yet the Midwest is reeling

With catastrophic floods

All the world is feeling

We’ll be buried in the mud

 

Yesterday it was Columbia

Today its Indonesia and Hawaii

Everywhere it is hunting us

Can’t you hear the mountains cry?

 

It is the age of catastrophe

From Paradise to Cemetery Road

We see the forest but not the trees

As the winds begin to blow

 

We’re building walls against the people

While we’ve let the dangers in

Like a church without a steeple

Like a prayer that worships sin

 

Buckle down and get prepared

For every threat that nature brings

It could happen anywhere

And when it does it will sting

 

Closed (Hormuz Strait)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IRAN WAR

 

Closed

 

The Lincoln is abandoned *

The war still rages on

We’re down to muskets and cannons

Our fearlessness is gone

It’s a strange and deadly game

Where every turn seems wrong

The new military is dopin’

They are singing a new song

But the Strait is not open

And the war is getting long

 

We’re loud and we’re raging

We’re heading round the bend

Our ships and missiles aging

In a war that will not end

Our leaders are half mad

By now the whole world knows

It’s tragic and it’s sad

But that’s just how it goes

Everything is turning bad

And the Strait is still closed

 

It’s closed for the weekend

It’s closed another day

How long it’s closed depends

On what our leaders say

There is no way around

It might be closed til May

As our sense of outrage grows

And our hair is turning gray

But the Strait remains closed

And closed it will stay

 

* USS Lincoln

 

Assassination

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Assassination

 

The leader of a sovereign nation

Must follow certain rules

There can be no assassinations

Or assassination schools

 

For what comes around goes around

As every schoolboy knows

If you put someone on the ground

Soon enough you’ll come to blows

 

They shot the Ayatollah down

Without thinking of what follows

What goes around comes around

That saying is not hollow

 

So we cannot be surprised that

Assassination is now in play

You pull the tail of a sleeping cat

The cat will have a say

 

So our leader is endangered

By his own reckless act

Watch out for every stranger

May be an angry cat

 

This is why we have laws

That govern what we do

If you pull the shortest straw

Everyone is bound to lose

 

Columbian Quake

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CATASTROPHES

 

Columbian Quake

 

Our hearts go out to Bogota

For their suffering this day

Tears are flowing, emotions raw

Struck by a major quake

 

At times of these disasters

There are no politics

Our hearts become our masters

The aid must happen quick

 

All the world should unite

In doing what we’re able

A convergence in the fight

To make the stricken nation stable

 

Today it is Columbia

Tomorrow it may be Mexico

Maybe Cuba or Bolivia

Where it strike we cannot know

 

We know it will happen somewhere

Be it near or be it far

And we will always be there

For it will strike where we are

 

We cannot waste our time and resource

On such foolish things as war

Someday we will change course

And that will open many doors

 

The Insurrection Redux

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

The Insurrection Redux

 

The insurrection has not ended

It has simply gone to hiding

If the people are offended

We soon will be deciding

 

The insurrection will be televised

There is no doubt on that

Our history will not be revised

To reflect the latest stat

 

The last one was rehearsal

For the one that’s yet to come

No blockage or dispersal

Come on out and get you some

 

The insurrection will be televised

In all its gloom and glory

We will all believe the lies

We are sticking to our story

 

If you don’t want an insurrection

You had better make it clear

For there will be some defections

As the day of dread draws near

 

The insurrection will be televised

From its inception to its end

We will watch it grow and die

And this message we will send:

 

Go home and take your violence

Go home and take your guns

We will not stand in silence

We will not turn and run