Willful Ignorance (for James Baldwin)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  GEORGE FLOYD SERIES

Willful Ignorance

The words of a great man

From a former generation

Haunt the white man’s world

With the weight of eternal history

And the depth of eternal knowledge

“If you can overcome the curtain of my color”

Then we can live in peace

If not we will be at war perpetually

A war like most wars that no one can win

“I want exactly what you want”

I want to be left alone

I want to walk the streets of America

Without fear of never returning

To my home

I want my children and theirs

To grow up in safe neighborhoods

Where kindness and wisdom thrive

Where hatred and brutality fail

“You will listen or you will perish”

And we will perish together

Like pigs in a pen

Like fools in a pool of madness

We are human beings

We are not bison or beavers

That you can hunt into extinction

We are not leaving

This is our land as much as yours

You brought us here as slaves

But we are free

We have won our freedom

And we will not yield equality

We are here to stay

Make peace with that reality

(respectfully for James Baldwin)

Killing Doctors in Moscow

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Killing Doctors in Moscow

We show mercy to the terminally ill

We shoot animals in pain

They let doctors die in Russia

For telling the truth in vain

A doctor takes a solemn oath

To treat the sick and do no harm

When you witness dangerous situations

You have a duty to raise alarm

But the Kremlin thinks its surrounded

By a bubble of immunity

If they keep it all a secret

It does not hit your own community

It doesn’t matter where you’re from

Or where you practice your occupation

You deserve respect and common decency

From the leaders of your nation

So cry now for Moscow

And let your tears flow

The image of a proud nation

Falls to the one we know

It Ain't Over

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

It Ain’t Over

You can’t end a war with a fantasy

You can’t tell a virus to cease and desist

You can’t halt death with a snap of your fingers

You can’t stop a storm with a wish

Did you think it would all disappear

If you said there was nothing to fear?

Did you believe it would go away

If you commanded it not to stay?

When we were bright eyed kids

And the world was ours to declare

We could pick up our marbles and leave

If we thought the game wasn’t fair

But those days are forever gone

We now face the fate we’ve earned

When we pour fuel on a fire

We know we will get burned

You can’t stop the sun from rising

You can’t stop the sea with a prayer

You can’t stop an eagle from flying

You can’t stop disease with a dare

It ain’t over till it’s over

New York Breakdown

RANDOM POETRY HOUR: GEORGE FLOYD SERIES

New York Breakdown

Brutality on the streets of New York

Betrayal of the public trust

The shining beacon on an island

Has gone from boom to bust

New York we love you

But you’re beating us down *

The city of enlightenment

City of dreams now broken

And scattered into a million

Little pieces on bloodied ground

When the pandemic smashed into you

Like the first wave of a tsunami

We turned to you in admiration

We looked to you for salvation

We held you up for inspiration

We felt for you and prayed

Now you revert to political form

And blame the beaten

For being bruised

New York we love you

But you will be forsaken

After centuries of injustice

It’s time to awaken

[* LCD Soundsystem:

New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down]

Lockdown Pennsylvania Avenue

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  GEORGE FLOYD SERIES

Lockdown Pennsylvania Avenue

With the impeachment trial

An enemies list

Disdain for lawful protest

Rejection of civil rights

And disregard for civil liberties

The horrors of the day

Recall the reign of Tricky Dick

Who resigned in disgrace

But it was LBJ who hunkered down

In the Oval Office

Locked down in the White House

While an army of vocal protesters

Camped out beyond the fence

And refused to leave

LBJ ended his reign under siege

In an act of common decency

To spare the nation further pain

He refused to seek a second term

Acknowledged nothing more to gain

If only this president

Had the decency of LBJ

He would step down and fade away

But he is neither Nixon nor LBJ

He’s under lockdown behind razor wire

In the fortress on Pennsylvania Avenue

Alone and despondent

He knows now he couldn’t make the grade

He curses ghosts in the darkness

Lashes out at those he sees

Devolves into madness

Issuing his decrees

Johnson escalated Vietnam

Nixon doubled down

But neither put our troops

On American ground

Not Enough

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GEORGE FLOYD SERIES

Not Enough

Justice calling with charges of

Second degree murder

Aiding and abetting

A first and second step

Toward peace

Not enough

Remove them from the force

And all their collaborators

End the conspiracy of silence

Review every case

The dirty cops ever touched

Compensate their victims

And free the abused

Put them behind bars

And ask how they like it now

Still not enough

Rebuild the inner cities

The westsides the eastsides

From the ground up

Provide decent housing

And living wages

An end to homelessness

And mass incarceration

Restore voting rights

Healthcare for all

Not enough

It will never be enough

Until the hearts and minds of all

Are altered at the core

It will never be enough

Until every bad cop

Is relieved of duty

Now and forever

It will not be enough

Until cops go to jail

For crimes committed

Behind the badge

Beneath the cover of darkness

It will never be enough

Until people of color

Can walk down the streets

Without fear of the color blue

Vampires of Protest

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GEORGE FLOYD SERIES

Vampires of Protest

Looters and instigators

Thieves and agitators

Brick throwers and manipulators

Leeches and parasites

Vampires of protest

Who hide out in the daylight

And only come out at night

Bloodsuckers feeding

On righteous indignation

The poison well of exploitation

Poised to march and ready to fight

But the vampires only

Come out at night

Justice seekers hit the streets

Day after day soldiers of light

To change what’s wrong

And uphold what’s right

A cause subverted by

Losers and lowlifes

A disgusting sight

They only come out at night