The Mask

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

The Mask

The man who’s never wrong

Admitted he was wrong today

He strutted into a famed hospital

And sang a different song today

He was not a happy man

You could see it in his eyes

He’d rather eat a dozen worms

Or tell a thousand lies

But he wore a mask today

And the pundits gave him praise

When they asked him why he said

Let’s see how it plays

You see it doesn’t really matter

That it would save many lives

It’s all about his favorability

And how his numbers rise

Johnny Got Covid

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Johnny Got Covid

Going back to school

Comes at a price

Johnny’s gonna get Covid

Sally’s gonna get lice

Kids will be kids

So the old folks say

It’s hard to control

How the children play

He comes home to mommy

She gives him a hug

A kiss before bedtime

Tucks him in snug

Life is a gamble

Kids are like chips

All will be well

Unless Johnny slips

Only the world’s biggest fool

Or a man without heart

Would order the schools open

Before they’re ready to start

White Privilege

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GEORGE FLOYD SERIES

White Privilege

I have known the hand of privilege

Been forgiven for my sins

Don’t they know under the surface

I am red beneath the skin

I have advanced above my betters

Some will lose while others win

Don’t they know under the cover

I am black beneath the skin

I earned more than my fair share

Don’t know where I should begin

Don’t they realize it’s all a mask

I am brown beneath the skin

No one tells you that its wrong

Like a song below the din

You accept the solemn truth

That it’s all about the skin

Roaches Survive

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Roaches Survive

Survival of the fittest is a two edged sword

There are times it strikes a wayward chord

For all its wonder and beauty

Nature can be unkind

It can smile on the wicked

And punish the divine

For the good may die young

And psychopaths may thrive

Butterflies perish

And roaches survive

Joy will leave too soon

And sorrow will arrive

The way of nature is logic

That seldom has rhyme

When it comes to science

Our destiny is blind

When it comes to mortality

There is so little time

But the truth will drive forward

And win in the end

We must never lose hope

We must always defend

But when it comes to survival

Just sheer brute drive

Butterflies will perish

Where roaches will thrive

Undocumented

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Undocumented

She was an essential worker

Producing fruit and vegetables

For your family dinner table

We sang her glory

Praised her sacrifice

Admired her honest labor

Neglecting to note

She had little choice

She did what she had to do

To put food on her own table

She was brave and strong

No one could deny

She showed up every morning

Worked until night

And took care of the kids

Every evening

She caught the virus

She did not know how

She had been cautious

(but had her kids?)

She wore a mask

(except at home)

She kept her distance

(the best she could)

Twice she went to church

To pray for the afflicted

Maybe then somehow

The laying on of hands

The shedding of tears

The close contacts

She was afraid to seek help

(and afraid not to)

She was undocumented

Would they send her home?

Would they deport her?

What would her children do?

She got sick and prayed

She closed her door and prayed

She told her kids to stay away

Until she was too weak to stop them

What else could she do?

She was undocumented

Not a person

Not a face

Just another number

Stricken by the virus

Taken by the disease

They cried for her in the barrio

They mourned her in Jalisco

They took her children in

Buried her in sacred ground

Sang of her in the cantina

Wove her into their folklore

Their culture of sacrifice

They prayed the rosary

Some say she died for being illegal

Others that she died for being poor

She was brave and strong

One country broke her heart

The other did her wrong

Gestapo in Portland

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: THE RESISTANCE

Gestapo in Portland

Unmarked soldiers in riot gear

Rounding up protesters in Portland Oregon

No charges no mandate no authority

But the political whim of the president

Desperate to prove his strength

He violates all constitutional guarantees

Ripping citizens off the streets

To establish his brutish credentials

Is this America?

Portland is a progressive city

That protects the rights of all

It is not a lawless state

It has not descended into anarchy

There are no riots in the streets

There is no absence of order

There has been no declaration

of Marshall Law

Yet the president orders

in his Gestapo troops to create

an illusion of disorder

that he can crush

like a bug underfoot

The strongman of Washington

employs the awesome power

of his office in the service of

fascist brutality

Go home Mister President

Take your stormtroopers with their

bullet proof vests and riot sticks

their rubber bullets and tear gas cannisters

and send them to a deep bunker

where they can hide their heads

in shame

This is not Moscow

This is not Tiananmen Square

This is not Chicago 1968

We are not a fascist state

And you are not Richard Nixon

Cease and desist

Man of Honor (for John Lewis)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GEORGE FLOYD SERIES

Man of Honor

Man of honor

Man of dignity

He overcame the weight of history

To become the conscience of the people’s house

They beat him down on the Edmund Pettus Bridge

They beat him back on the bus to freedom

He spilled his blood on the long march

to the promised land

Yet he never lost hope

He carried more than his share

of his generation’s burden

Yet he always believed he would get there

He marched with King

Stood beside Jesse Jackson

and prayed with Reverend Al

He broke bread with adversaries

and converted many to friends

It is tempting to believe

it is all for nothing

John Lewis was always there

to remind us where we’ve been

and remember how far we have come