RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES
Learning to Laugh Again
A deadly barrage
A relentless wave
Sorrow upon sorrow
Blue upon blues
A shotgun blast
A plague of locusts
A scourge of misfortune
A midnight triple bill of horror
The little tramp walks into a bar
Tips his hat and stumbles
Head over heels
Heels over head
And back again
He retrieves his hat
Straightens his lapel
And plops himself down
As if nothing happened
Learning to laugh again
Begins with a smile
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR
Starting Over
The caterpillar becomes the butterfly
The seed becomes the exquisite rose
The mewling infant becomes the artist
The stumbling fawn becomes the doe
Everything in nature begins again
The bud blossoms into full glory
The vast sand land springs to vivid life
The deadly storm yields to calm waters
The raging sun becomes the night
Everything in nature is reborn
The lowly pauper becomes the prince
The wicked sinner becomes a saint
The simple maiden becomes a princess
What is in spades becomes what ain’t
Everyone deserves a new beginning
Everything must be reborn
As everything in nature is becoming
So everyone in life can be transformed
(regards to John Lennon)
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES
The Year of Two Twenties
A year of bitter fruit and bitter harvest
A harsh and twisted sister
A harbinger of darkness
She came too soon and never left
Leaving souls lost and hearts bereft
A year of malady and discontent
Of clouds that would not lift
Of rain that punished without end
Never breathing never cleansed
Fire drought and pestilence
Our energy is spent
A year of social uprising
We wonder will it be the moment?
We wonder was it worth the price?
The gatherings so many lives
Deepening the great divide
Compelling us to choose sides
The year of twenties ends with hope
A little longer we must cope
Wearing masks and keeping distance
Washing hands with soap
Born in innocence it ends in infamy
Like Shakespeare’s Gloucester:
There is no creature loves me
And if I die no soul shall pity me
Goodbye year of twenties
May we never meet again
You demanded our attention
But it’s time for you to end
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES
The Shadow of Christmas
The shadow of Christmas has fallen
On a tired and weary nation
The virus has metastasized
Like a deadly invocation
The holidays raised our spirits
And stimulated our senses
But in its wake it’s sad to say
It weakened our defenses
So now we face the consequence
Of Christmas cheer and sharing
We watch the virus soar and spread
And fear we’ll lose our bearing
The question we must ask ourselves:
Was it worth the cost?
So much pain and suffering
So many lives we’ve lost
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR
Vengeance
Vengeance is the seed of evil deeds
Even more so than hate or greed
To seek vengeance is to forego grief
So that sorrow vengeance feeds
We all suffer loss and heartbreak
We feel that vengeful yearning
But our wiser selves will overcome
To understand our need for learning
For vengeance feeds more vengeance
And violence is answered in kind
Until the whole world is set ablaze
And virtues fall behind
Far better to let our anger go
To let it run its course
Than to get entangled in a maze
And mired in remorse
We place our faith in knowing
That justice will find a way
The guilty will be punished
That dog will have its day
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES
The China Problem
The world is safer when we are friends
But that on human rights depends
You cannot crush freedom of speech
Yet privileged status in trade beseech
When you imprison honored journalists
Your government is disgraced
To all leaders that engage such acts
Stern consequence must be faced
For all nations must uphold
The basic tenets of civilization
Those who fail so blatantly
Should face free trade revocation
We demand justice for Zhang Zhan
We demand she be set free
For the greater good of all nations
For the advancement of humanity
(Zhang Zhan sentenced to four years
in prison for reporting on the virus.)
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CHRISTMAS
Music City
I remember Christmas in Nashville
A city bursting with excitement
Where every person you met
Was a singer or a song
Where country paid the rent
But every kind of muse was alive
I remember the poetry scene
(down on Second Street as I recall)
Dancing to a hard rock beat
Paying tribute to the bards of old
And the beats of San Francisco
Infused with jazz rock and folk
A town that welcomed all to its fold
I remember Nashville in the round
A city of dreams and dreamers
Characters in search of a story
Singers in search of a song
Poets in search of rhyme
Nashville at Christmas time
When everyone put their dreams aside
And embraced the spirit of being
A spirit of sharing and giving
A spirit of friendship and trust
To see it all come crashing down
At the hands of some random madman
Is almost beyond forgiving
(an early morning explosion stuns
Nashville on Christmas 2020)
