The Lies of War

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  GLOBAL POLITICS

The Lies of War

 

The lies of war begin

Before the last bomb explodes

Before the last civilian dies

Before we travel down this road

We need to know what the mission is

We need to know before we go

 

We were wrong to make Afghanistan

The playground for our wars

They should have known

What they were in for

We should have known

What was in store

 

This was Vietnam all over

Another dirty little war

We pretend we are the heroes

As we scurry for the door

 

We leave behind those who trusted us

Those who treated us as friends

We shrug and swear to heaven

This will never happen again

 

[Honor the warrior; despise the war.]

 

The Amazon (River Series)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RIVER SERIES

 

The Amazon

 

The river that feeds a continent

That nourishes a vast rain forest

That mystifies the curious

And terrifies the adventurous

Holds secrets we have hardly glimpsed

Medicines to cure diseases

Formulae to life abundant

Lifeforms that defy all knowledge

Tribes that perfect new ways of life

 

The Amazon has stirred imagination

For as long as humans have been

It dares us to explore its mysteries

Defies us to make it home

 

Without the Amazon to cleanse the air

Our world would long have ceased

We thank the Amazon for its mercy

And promise to live in peace

 

The Mississippi

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RIVER SERIES

The Mississippi

 

Old Sam Clemens steered his riverboat

Down the muddy waters of the Mississippi

Spinning yarns of childhood dreams

Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn

 

The Missouri and the Mississippi

Split the north American continent

Lifeline along the continental divide

Heartbeat of a vast great nation

 

Those who have traced the great river

From her northern most birth

To her womb in New Orleans

Know the grandness of her waters

Her majesty and vulnerability

 

Men have tried to steer her course

With tragic and empty results

We have built towns in her path

And watched them mowed down

The mighty river will not be told

She is stronger than we are bold

 

We must learn what the riverboats know

Let the river flow where it flows

 

World on Fire

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

World on Fire

 

Pillars of billowing smoke and ash

From Turkey to the isles of Greece

The fires feed on dry crisp land

Like hungry rabid beasts

 

The world goes up in flames

The people pray for rain

There is nowhere to escape

Trapped on a runaway train

 

Will we survive this great ordeal

Or will we make a sorry end

Make peace with all your enemies

For you may meet them round the bend

 

We must hope there is still time

We must pray it’s not too late

Are we the last of our kind

Are we bound to a tragic fate

 

Dictatorship in Hungary

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Dictatorship in Hungary

 

The dismantling of democracy

Whether here or over there

Should never go unnoticed

Not here not anywhere

 

The enemies of democracy

Are the enemies of the soul

The brethren of autocracy

Are our eternal foes

 

The loss of freedom anywhere

Is a blow to every one of us

A warning to all free nations

A betrayal of our trust

 

No matter where you live

No matter where you breathe the air

Now is the time to give

Now is the time to care

 

No one paid attention

When the Nazis rose to power

It is time to raise our voices

It is the reckoning hour

 

Fire Sky

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

Fire Sky

 

The morning sky is brown

Like the rust of an abandoned car

The sun is fire orange

It smells of smoke and tar

The forest is burning

To the north and east

The forest is burning

Like a fiendish beast

 

Listen

You can hear the coughs

Look closely

You can see the flames

Breathe deeply

You can smell the charred remains

of homes that used to be

Breathe again

You can taste it

It is the taste of sulfur

It is the taste of dying

It is the scent of disease

 

We live in a land of flames

We breathe a toxic blend of

air and smoke and fire dust

We drink the spoiled waters

We pretend the sky is blue

and the water runs clear and true

We pretend the sea is green

and the rivers run forever clean

and the forest lives eternal