LIving with Fear

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Living with Fear

 

Will we live or will we die

Life is filled with mystery

Will we die or will we live

We know not what may be

 

We live in constant fear

The fear that is not knowing

We hide it in our shirt sleeve

And hope it is not showing

 

This fear of fear is strange

But we know it to be true

You keep it tucked away from me

I keep it hidden from you

 

We live our waking lives in fear

We have no other choice

I see it in the way we move

I hear it in your voice

 

How long can we get by this way

How long before we break

We stumble trip and fall each day

Surviving for survival’s sake

 

 

Grateful

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Grateful

 

In these times of heavy hearts when

thoughts linger into sleepless nights

I’m grateful not to be alone

Grateful to share a home

With the one I love

 

I think of those less fortunate

Confined behind familiar walls

That bear no marks of affection

That share no living hope

 

I think of those with no one

to share the burden of the times

No one to tell one’s truth

No one to reflect one’s mind

 

I think of those who must choose

a life of loneliness and yearning

or risk no life at all

 

Our hearts were not designed

for such a heartless choice

We were born seeking the comfort

of our fellow human beings

 

I am grateful to have landed

in this place at this time

My love is my hope and comfort

Her love becomes mine

 

(for Julie)

Mama Never Lies

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR

Mama Never Lies

 

Mama taught us to believe

In the police the teachers and preachers

Mama told us so it must be right

Mama told us with a sigh

And mamas never lie

 

Mama taught us to show respect

For people in authority

And no one has more authority

Than the president

Even if you disagree

Even if you see the world

Through different eyes

Presidents do not lie

 

Mama told us to go to church

And pray to the baby Jesus

Listen to the preacher man

Be humble and be good

Go to heaven when you die

Preachers never lie

 

Mama taught us to say sir

When a cop stops to talk

Nod our heads and show our hands

Though she did not say why

We got the message and comply

Because cops don’t lie

 

I don’t go to church these days

I don’t much honor the president

I’m afraid of the police

I don’t trust the preacher

And I’m not sure about the teacher

Mama really didn’t know it

But I’ve learned as time goes by

Everybody lies

 

Except mama

Who did the best she could

To help her children survive

The Rule of Vlad

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: PUTIN & TRUMP

The Rule of Vlad

 

They shared a common enemies list

In a call between the best of friends

Discussed elections the rule of law

The GRU a fly on the wall

 

And the leader of the western world

Bowed down before his master

To praise his holy eminence

 

All praise the rule of Vlad

All praise the power of Putin

 

He holds the keys to the American dream

As our leader falls to his knees

He’ll do anything he’s told

Negotiations he will fold

 

All hail the Russian king

Demure the American underling

 

To undermine our next election

He advocates natural selection

 

The absence of guilt is not

A declaration of innocence

It proclaims the absence of shame

Solitude

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Solitude

 

In the misty haze of solitude

A change has enveloped my soul

I am no longer who I was

In the lost days of plenty

In the days we thought

Would last forever

 

I felt I needed no one then

I was an island in a flowing river

I had my love my family my closed

Circle of friends my chosen few

 

My circle is open now

Like blossoms in the heart of spring

I have discovered interdependency

While mortality has discovered me

 

In the solitude of forced confinement

The circles have found new order

The layers of protection break away

The layers of deception shatter

 

We are all fragile beings

In the loneliness of night

Yearning for connection

Yearning for common bonds

Yearning to understand

And to be understood

 

In the crisis of forced solitude

We are all the same

We want we need we hurt

We are vulnerable and exposed

Reaching for hands beyond our reach

Pleading for those we need