Mendacity

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Mendacity of Menendez

 

There is no place in a democracy

For those who put their own enrichment

Ahead of the public good

There is no process of adjudication

That can explain away the facts

That will exonerate your character

You received a small fortune in cash

Gold, mortgages and no one knows

To represent the interests of Egypt

To represent an anti-democratic autocrat

 

A party that opposes insurrection

A party that decries mendacity

A party that condemns corruption

Cannot endure for a solemn moment

The self-serving greed you have displayed

A party that claims the moral high ground

Can have no tolerance for moral depravity

 

You have had your time in power

You have bathed in the light of fame

You may fight for vindication in court

But leave public service behind

If you do not resign, the party should expel you

If you do not resign, the good citizens of

New Jersey should recall you

For the good of the nation: Step down!

 

Stealing Children

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

Stealing Children

 

The mother of all crimes

Against humanity and decency

The brazen theft of children

Stolen from their mothers’ arms

By the hundreds of thousands

To serve an enemy nation

To be reprogrammed as warriors

To be wiped of their culture

To be cleansed of their memories

To be stripped of their affections

To form an army of orphans

To fight against their homeland

 

Some crimes cannot be forgiven

Patricide, matricide, genocide

And this: Stealing children to fight

Against their own

 

Ode to Israel

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

A Resistance of Principle (Ode to Israel)

 

You are wrong

You in the Knesset are wrong

You in the tower of high office

You are the enemies of democracy

You are the enemies of peace

You are losing the support of the soldiers

You have lost the support of the young

You will lose the support of the people

You have exceeded your authority

You have defied the rule of law

You are losing the respect of the world

Stop what you are doing

Reverse course

Cease and desist

The people join hands and rise against you

It is not too late to back down

Have the courage to admit you are wrong

When you face overwhelming opposition

Day after day night after night

You must turn around and look at yourself

You must rethink all that you have done

In the battle of principles you are wrong

Therefore you cannot win

The judgement of history will be harsh

 

Crossroads India

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Crossroads India

 

India is at a crossroad

Torn between mass poverty and

economic opportunity

Institutionalized discrimination

Undermining rights of labor

Violations of human rights

Tempting shameful alliances

Its very democracy uncertain

 

India faces a distinct choice

Follow the path of the western world

Economic freedom and democracy

Equal rights for all

A path to fair trade policy

A vibrant free press

Or follow the road of China

Labor exploitation

Oppression of minorities

Egregious human rights

Suppression of dissent

 

The world’s largest democracy

Must turn its back on evil ways

And march proudly into a future

Of liberty and enlightenment

Civil War

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Civil War

 

Back in the days of racial unrest

When the cities burned with rage

When the FBI hunted panthers for sport

When the suburbs became gated communities

When fear gripped the psyche of America

When the children of peace went off

on their own

A friend whose skin was darker than mine

Looked into my eyes and said:

If the race war came I’d shoot you

That’s when I knew we had a problem

 

To those who say it could never happen

Take a good look around

People buying weapons like candy for Halloween

People so divided we look like postwar Berlin

People living in media bubbles and

Leaders feeding the mob

What I don’t see now and did not see before

the insurrection is the passion and the rage

 

So I look into your eyes and ask you:

Is that what you want?

Blood on the streets?

An era of violence and unrest?

Americans against Americans?

Civil war?

 

The hope of the nation and the world

is that the vast, vast majority of us

say no

Buried in Mud

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Buried in Mud (Libya)

 

To those who say

government doesn’t matter

Look to Libya

Where a monster storm combined

with government dysfunction

to bury ten thousand people

in a matter of hours

 

Years of civil war

An absence of civil society

A crumbling infrastructure

Chaos and disorder

The Libyan strongman is gone

Leaving a void in his wake

This is his lasting legacy

This is Libya’s cruel fate

Death and destruction

A dysfunctional state

 

We cry for the Libyan people

We mourn for their dead

We will lend our aid

To see their children are fed

What more we can do

We do not know

For a failed nation whose

Needs only grow

Even (Endless War)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR

Even (Endless War)

 

There’s a thought we learn as kids

At the heart of every war

You take one of mine

I take one of yours

 

As long as we’re even

There’s nothing to fight for

You take one of ours

We take one of yours

 

Like marbles in a circle

Or pieces on a chess board

You take one of mine

I take one of yours

 

Somewhere down the line

According to the lore

The game shifted:

You take one of mine

We’ll take two of yours

 

And so the game progressed

With better weapons and more

You take one of ours

We’ll take ten of yours

 

But something happens to the heart

When you open up that door

If you take one of mine

We’ll fight an endless war

 

And there is no way to stop it

The want of vengeance always grows

Until everyone is suffering

Where it ends nobody knows