Big Tent Party

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

 

Big Tent Party

 

The Democrats are on the run

The “Big Tent” party has failed

It allowed a right-wing charlatan

To run the nation off the rails

 

If you really want a Big Tent

Don’t attack the progressive wing

If you wonder where the voters went

They felt the corporate sting

 

Hey Big Brother, have you heard?

They’re leaving you behind

They aren’t afraid of “scary” words

The people make up their own minds

 

They like what the candidates represent

They like what they have to say

A party that falls short of Big Tent

Can only get in the way

 

Expand your way of thinking

There’s a mountain we must climb

The old party has been sinking

For a very, very long time

 

You’ve been losing all the races

We have lost our peace of mind

It is time to greet new faces

Of a new and fresher kind

 

We need a new unification

Of all parties in opposition

To save this faltering nation

With a new, enlightened mission

 

The Purge

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DEMOCRACY

 

The Purge

 

Florida pioneered purging the voter rolls

Without it Bush* would have lost

From there the question only grows

This topsy turvy world was tossed

 

They found a way to cull the vote

Using names from a felons list

That they were minorities is of note

If they were white they would have missed

 

The history of the world was altered

By that historic election fact

Our democratic system faltered

We haven’t found our way back

 

There are many ways to beat the system

Our democracy is endangered

There are times when we missed them

The threats could not be plainer

 

When it comes to cheating let’s be clear

It’s nearly always the GOP

With the next election drawing near

We can’t afford to let it be

 

All people should be united

In our belief in democracy

Do not let it be decided

By those smelling of hypocrisy

 

* George W. Bush

 

A Dagger to the Heart

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

Dagger

 

Ukraine is desperate for supplies

Among them interceptors

To clear missiles from their skies

With defenders and detectors

 

But they were shipped to the Saud’s

To the Emirates and Bahrain

To defend against “the gods”

Instead of fighting for Ukraine

 

We let them fight the Russian beast

As if we didn’t have a stake

We helped Zelensky fight the least

We let go for Putin’s sake

 

We’re running short of munitions

All the experts will explain

Along with chronic indecision

We’ve betrayed brave Ukraine

 

And yet they found a way to fight

Against all odds with Europe’s aid

Knowing they were in the right

Knowing Trump was being played

 

Who among us did not see

That Netanyahu was insane?

This war for the Israelis

Is a dagger to the heart of Ukraine

 

 

The Drought

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

The Drought

 

Lakes Powell and Mead are running dry

The Colorado is endangered

We know the simple reasons why

The strange is getting stranger

 

A victim of global climate change

A winter dry as bones

The ecosystem rearranged

The riverbeds of stone

 

Seven states are wondering

Just when their share runs out

The truth will leave a lasting sting

The warming’s not in doubt

 

Desalination is the only way

The west will survive the drought

Our world has gone so far astray

In time we’ll figure out

 

We had a chance to stem the tide

But now it’s far too late

We’re in it for a rocky ride

Hard times will be our fate

 

Some may wish to ride it out

The chips fall where they may

But one more year of stifling drought

And all will feel the pain  

Depleted

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IRAN WAR

 

Depleted

 

All our weapons are depleted

It couldn’t get much worse

Before this “mission” is completed

We’ll be riding in a hearse

 

They’re closing off the straits

They’re choking off supplies

We are awakening too late

To a waterfall of lies

 

We are sadly unprepared

For the wars that could unfold

Trapped in the dragon’s lair

All our options growing cold

 

Soon we’ll face the prospect

Of surrendering the cause

Of losing all respect

Of admitting all our flaws

 

Our leaders are incompetent

They are flailing in the night

Our interceptors have been spent

And the end is not in sight

 

This gross miscalculation

Is a betrayal of Ukraine

Instead of aiding that brave nation

Out munitions are constrained

 

No!

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: THE RESISTANCE

 

No! 

 

We don’t want you wicked ICE

We don’t want your data centers

Let me give you some advice

Put an end to these adventures

 

You don’t know what you’re doing

You don’t know what you’ve done

You’re flailing and you’re suing

And the backlash has begun

 

We don’t want your dirty prisons

We don’t want your careless cuts

There’s a trail of daft decisions

The decree is open shut

 

We don’t want your lame-brained wars

We don’t want your crypto schemes

We don’t want drilling off our shores

We don’t share your racist dream

 

We don’t want to rig the vote

We don’t want soldiers on the streets

We don’t want to rock the boat

But we won’t march to your beat

 

It is time for you to go

We’ve grown tired of your act

You have lost your golden glow

Cue the curtain, fade to black

 

World on Fire

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

World on Fire

 

The world’s on fire because of us

Because of what we’ve done

In our leaders we’ve lost trust

The whole planet’s on the run

 

Think of what we’ve handed down

From the generations past

Our way of life has been unwound

The damage done is vast

 

We have left a world on fire

Catastrophes and drought

A world balanced on a tight wire

Without a clear way out

 

We wish we had it all again

I swear we’d do things differently

These are the doings of lesser men

The ones who worshiped greed

 

They didn’t care what harm they did

They plotted and they planned

They answered to the highest bid

They built their castles grand

 

Soon they’ll answer for their lapse

Their callousness and greed

They’ll hear the bells toll and the taps

They’ll find a place of need