Bolsonaro

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES


Bolsonaro

Was ever there a bigger fool than I

Under the vast Brazilian sky

I proclaimed the virus a joke

Just another liberal hoax

Now I suffer with the masses

Little children in their classes

Mothers fathers sons and nieces

Their whole world torn to pieces

They used to say if Trump was brown

Bolsonaro would hold his ground

But now we’ve turned it all around

The Brazilian smile becomes a frown

The world may say I have no shame

For Bolsonaro is my name

The brightest light in all the land

I have no light there is no band

Now I suffer by myself

I place my pride upon the shelf

My leadership no longer pretty

I spend my hours in self-pity

Black Men with Guns

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GEORGE FLOYD SERIES

Black Men with Guns

They shoot horses don’t they?

They shot panthers back in the day

Doesn’t matter what you say or do

They shoot black men with guns too

Good old boys call themselves militia

And march right up to the capitol dome

Wearing swastikas with weapons of war

They are made to feel at home

But if blacks gather in the city square

With rifles over their shoulders

They are pronounced terrorists and thugs

Their reception could not be colder

They are told they are not welcome here

Go on home and take your guns

If they refuse and claim their sacred right

They will soon be on the run

Round here black men do not carry

And they do not mix with whites

But most of all they never claim

To possess a white man’s rights

Thirty Heroes

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GEORGE FLOYD SERIES

Thirty Heroes

To be named an American hero

should be an honor that outlasts time

To be named an American hero

by the worst president in history

is something less than honor

How would Frederick Douglass feel

knowing that this president speaks

the language of the confederacy?

How would MLK feel knowing

this president has welcomed

white supremacy to his fold

and legitimized the Klan?

There are no native Americans

on the president’s list of heroes

There are no Asians or Chicanos

though some are “good people”

There are no scientists on the list

No artists poets or resistance leaders

To not be named is a badge of honor

The mendacity of this man

to think that he can dictate

American values and American heroes

is unbounded in the chronicles of time

We shall choose our own heroes

and you shall not be among them

Falling

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Falling

The dream of falling

Stumbling off a cliff

Sliding into a canyon

Toppling off a tower

The earth gives way

And you spiral into the depths

An endless pathway to nothingness

A dizzy downward tumble

That never ends

You know somehow that the bottom

Is the end of all you know

The end of consciousness

The end of being

The end of dreams

The end

Only now the dream of falling

Begins when we awake

And ends when we drift

Away into the starry world

Of sleep

Embrace

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Embrace

We used to embrace

As if to say I know you

As if to say I trust you

And you may trust me

We used to shake hands

(bare naked hand to hand)

We used to pump fists and slap shoulders

We used to let our bodies come together

To feel each other’s warmth

We used to stand in lines so close

We could feel the breath

On the back of our heads

We used to let our shoulders touch

As we found our way through a crowd

We used to dance hand in hand

Cheek to cheek with almost strangers

I remember human contact

As if it were yesterday

As if we awoke only this morning

To find that we are magnets

Charged to repel each other

We have only our memories

Of a time when we embraced

Without a second thought

Of a time we held each other’s hands

To push away our worries

Will we ever find that place again

The touch of human skin

Without fear

Corona Parties

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Corona Parties

They invite the infected to attend

Throw money in a pot

Who will get the virus first?

Who will win the lot?

Kids will be kids sins will be sins

But killing grandpa is no way to win

Are they blind to what’s happening?

Do they just not care?

Are they filled with contempt?

Do they do it on a dare?

Teenage angst is a dangerous thing

You just want to get on with it

Let your free spirit sing

It’s a passage in the game of life

It’s always been this way

But what was fine back then

Is a catastrophe today

Is it teenage angst? 

Did you do it on a dare?

Are you filled with rage?

Do you just don’t care?

I remember being young

Nothing mattered but the now

Times have changed and it’s not fair

Everyone is running scared

So take a moment to think about

For tomorrow there will be doubt

Old Folks

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Old Folks

Old folks move to warmer climes

Like Florida and Arizona

Where they live the life

In old folks homes

And retirement communities

Playing shuffleboard and golf

Having cocktails every evening

Watching the sun go down

Communal meals and activities

Gathering for televised events

Singalongs and bingo games

Playing pinochle and bridge

What could go wrong?

Some say rebellion is for the young

But stubbornness is the way of age

Masks are for Halloween

I didn’t live my life to keep space

A little shopping couldn’t hurt

A concert or a play

A night of fun at the cinema

Dinner and dessert

At what point do we let go?

Let the old folks do what they will?

We can’t cage the aged forever

We can’t make the sun stand still