Into the Shadows

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

 

Into the Shadows

 

Into the shadows we march

With all eyes closed

Into the shadows we go

To confront our worst foes

 

We are creatures of the light

Yet we have lost our way

In the shadows of darkness

Too long we have stayed

 

We will find a thin thread

And we will build a path

For an army of warriors

To seek our just wrath

 

Out of the shadows we march

With eyes open wide

Into the light we spring

In bold brave strides

 

We have hidden too long

Beneath the cover of night

We will end the terror

For we will win this fight

 

Tears for Haiti

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

Tears for Haiti

 

The island nation of Haiti

Is a poor and failing state

Last seen during an extreme disaster

Out assistance is far too late

 

We remember the Duvalier reign

A ruthless strongman despot

We remember the fall of presidents

Upheaval without respite

 

We remember Aristide

And the promise he held forth

We remember mass corruption

That cut his presidency short

 

We recall the French betrayal

The demand for reparations

The failure to provide them

Blocked the way to a thriving nation

 

So Haiti is again in crisis

It seems it has always been

We don’t know who to trust

In a nation without true friends

 

Loss

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Loss

 

Life is a long road

Populated by loss and suffering

So much loss so often that

We must sometimes wonder

If life is more punishment than joy

More pain than pleasure

 

We lose in love long before we gain

We lose in contests before winning

We lose the jobs we wanted

We lose the dreams we dreamed

We lose the money we gambled

We lose friendships and promises

 

But of all our losses

Death is the loss most supreme

We lose our dear beloved pets

We lose our grandparents

We lose our elders

We lose fathers and mothers

We lose siblings and friends

 

So much loss so often

We wonder if the price is not

Too great to bear

 

But then our eyes settle

On a picture of perfection

So dear and so inspired

We realized that all this loss

Is surpassed by something

So much greater

 

The balance of nature

The cycle of rebirth

The love of a mother and child

The longing for perfect beauty

The song of mourning doves

A setting sun on the Pacific

The vision of a masterpiece

 

There is no loss so great

That it can serve to counter

The beauty and the wonder

Of this sacred life on earth

 

Independence Day Reflection

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Independence Day Reflection

 

Last night we celebrated Independence Day

With fireworks food and libations

Knowing that the birth of the nation

Was deeply flawed in so many ways

 

Blacks browns Asians and natives have

Little reason to celebrate liberation

From one nation when another

Holds them hostage

 

A slave cares little who he calls master

 

Women were exempt from independence

Though they aided their husbands’ struggle

As if they were fully invested

They had no rights under British rule

They had no rights in the new world

 

And yet we celebrate the birth of the republic

Modern democracy with all its flaws

With gerrymandering and disenfranchisement

With its new and improved Jim Crow laws

 

We celebrate the ideals

We celebrate the principles

We celebrate the vision and the hope

For what our white forefathers gave us

Remains the brightest light on earth

 

We inherited a dream of freedom

With equal rights and justice for all

If falls to us to remember that dream

And to fulfill its promise

 

Puerto Rican Pride

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Puerto Rican Pride

 

Puerto Rico is a land of riches

A people with great pride

An island nation without status

A commonwealth but not a state

In limbo between conflicting interests

Like a dog without a home

 

Where were we when they needed us?

Tossing rolls of paper at the peasants

Playing games with politics

Turning away in crisis

Calling names and pointing blame

 

If Puerto Rico was a state

The balance of power would turn

The people would never be neglected

If Puerto Rico was a nation

at least it would be free to choose

its own president and representatives

Define its own place in the world

 

But Puerto Rican independence

will never be allowed

There are too many interests opposed

Puerto Rico will not be a state

One party will block the path

 

Puerto Rico will remain

in permanent perpetual limbo

until the ruling powers care more

about the people than the politics