Empowering the Beast

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 

Empowering the Beast

 

They all bowed down

When he handed out favors

From the mindless rabble

To our elected leaders

 

The blind followed the blind

The faithful followed the faithless

A self-sustaining movement

Among sheep it was contagious

 

They lauded him with praise

Regaled him with promises

Lifted up his word and image

Empowered him with rage

 

He caged children and they cheered him

Built a wall and they revered him

When he praised a despot they looked away

He pardoned thugs and criminals

Shook down foreign heads of state

Surrendered to a deadly plague

They shrugged with nothing to say

 

He incited a mob attack

To demonstrated his strength

Break down the walls of congress

Break through their iron gates

 

He filled their hearts with terror

They cowered and peeled away

Incredulous and dumb

They disown the monster they created

The beast they prodded on

 

Father forgive us they plead

We know not what we’ve done

We empowered this brutal tyrant

We thought he was the chosen one

 

American Democracy

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

American Democracy

 

Our democracy is damaged

Wounded to the core

The myth of our republic

Can comfort us no more

 

Masters of disenfranchisement

Sedition by subtraction

Win by all means necessary

Subterfuge and distraction

 

Designer districts are in fashion

Multiply the votes of whites

Dominate the federal courts

Repeal all voting rights

 

Support the electoral college

Despite its fallacies and flaws

The elite must always rule

Protected by our laws

 

It all goes back to slavery

Reconstruction and Jim Crow

While we have made some progress

The process is far too slow

 

Give everyone the right to vote

Let each vote count the same

Let’s insure that our democracy

Is more than just a name

 

The Autocrat Insurrection

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

The Autocrat Insurrection

 

Never in the history of the world

Have the people rose up

In support of autocracy

 

Never have ordinary people

Offered up their lives

To empower dictatorship

 

But here they gather

On the steps of the capitol building

In the halls of congress

In the offices of elected leaders

On the throne of the senate

At the desks of the people’s house

Dismantling our democracy

Brick by brick

 

Shame and infamy

That so many people

Could be so fooled

By one maniacal man

 

(autocracy = one man rule)

 

The Breach (Storming of the Bastille)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Breach

 

As the founders gathered in Philadelphia

To reconstitute the nation

The people of Paris stormed the Bastille

An armory a fortress and a prison

Where dissidents were locked away

Where the power of the crown

To oppress the will of the people

Was enshrined in iron and stone

 

The storming of the Bastille

Christened the French Revolution

An upheaval that ushered in

The Reign of Terror

A purge of the aristocracy

Of priests and privilege

Retribution by guillotine

 

This is not the storming of the Bastille

Though it carries bloody consequence

This is the rabble of a lawless leader

Incited to violent uprising

This is the result of electing an autocrat

A ruthless vicious wannabe king

Who can never accept failure

This is a shameful display of the people

Attacking their own institutions

Of self government

 

This is not the storming of the Bastille

It is a breach of the republic

And the disgrace of a nation

 

Accused!

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  POETRY OF POLITICS

Accused!

 

Mr. President: You stand accused!

 

Of summoning the power of state

To overrule the will of the people

And overturn a free and fair election

 

You stand accused!

 

Of undermining our democracy

With every breath you take

With every false declaration

With every truth you forsake

 

You stand accused!

 

Of enticing military officers

Gutless leaders and public officials

To undertake a graceless coup

A betrayal of epic proportions

In plain broad view

 

You stand accused!

 

Of disgracing the office you hold

The empire you once led

And the party you still lead

You’ve bled it till it’s dead

 

You stand accused!

 

Of inciting militia and gun owners

To violence on the streets

A rebel force to rise

To take and give their lives

So that you may gather riches

In schemes that you’ve devised

 

You stand accused!

 

Of abandoning all reason

Of betraying all principle

Of shaming the heart of shame

And tainting your family name

Now until the end of time

You’ve only yourself to blame

 

You sir stand accused!

 

How do you plead?

Guilty! Guilty!

And guilty again! 

 

(regards to Emile Zola)

 

The Greater Good

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Greater Good

 

The purpose of government is

To serve the greater good

Not to protect the wealth of the wealthy

Not to erect barriers of obstruction

Not to deliver daily platitudes

Not to promote the power of party

Not to deny the will of the people

 

The purpose of government is

To help the people in time of need

To answer the call of crises

To provide food to the hungry

To care for the sick and injured

To fight our common enemies

To protect us all from harm

 

The purpose of government is

To serve the greater good