When Democracy Dies

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

 

When Democracy Dies

 

When democracy dies

We begin a slow descent into anarchy

We yield control of all institutions

From civil society to law enforcement

We yield the streets to gangland dominance

And compel our children to choose

Behold Nicaragua Columbia Haiti Mexico

Witness Russia Georgia Ukraine

Beware Hungary Greece Brazil Spain

You cannot play with fire

Without getting burned

You cannot entice autocracy

Without lessons to be learned

 

Democracy does not die in a single blow

Democracy dies steady and slow

From a thousand cuts over time

Placing government in a tangled bind

A perpetual failure to compromise

An absence of the reasonable and wise

A betrayal of corporate corruption

A long slow burn to a final eruption

A deliberate attack on the vote

A dozen leaks sink the boat

 

Take a good look around you

The betrayers slowly surround you

To deliver yet another blow

And watch the doubters grow

 

Democracy is at the stake

Fight back before it is too late

 

American Extravagance

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

American Extravagance

 

We have always embraced our choices

Choices in trucks and cars

Choices in Hollywood stars

Choices in toothpaste

How much can we waste?

Choices in breakfast cereal

Basic grains or ethereal?

Choices in frozen foods

Choices in bread and booze

Choices in soft drinks

Choices in what to think

Choices in political candidates

To show up early or very late

Choices in film and entertainment

To expand our minds or find containment

Choices in fast food cuisine

Choices in washing machines

Choices in soaps and cleansers

Choices in lighting and sensors

Choices in quality and price

Choices in three-minute rice

 

What happens to our sense of self

When we find few choices on the shelf?

When the vast array of products

Shrinks to what we need

Where then will it lead?

 

Will we still be Americans?

Will we still hold our heads high?

Will we still be exceptional?

Will we still have our pride?

 

The chain of production and

Shipping is breaking down

The coils of capitalism

Becoming unwound

 

When we have more jobs than we can fill

Will our confidence turn to doubt?

We’re running fast but standing still

Must we learn how to do without?

 

Is this America? Can we survive?

What will sacrifice to stay alive?

 

Song of Oleg (Deripraska)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD AFFAIRS

Song of Oleg (Deripraska)

 

I sing of Oleg, Putin’s stooge

Pressed by the law he came unglued

To the FBI he sang his song

The Donald was their man all along

 

I’ll sing all day and I’ll sing all night

I’m very rich but not so bright

Vladimir made me do it all

If you doubt my word, give him a call

 

We’re all a part of Putin’s scheme

To own America is Putin’s dream

It was just a dream til he came along

When he began to sing our song

 

Of mother Russia proud and true

There was next to nothing he would not do

He pushed forward and we held him back

Slow it down but stay on track

 

Now give me diplomatic immunity

Let me operate with pure impunity

Keep me safe from Putin’s goons

And I will sing for you a tune

And tell a tale of Putin’s sorrow

His dream of a new Russian tomorrow

 

(regards to e.e. cummings)

Chicago Cops

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

 

Chicago Cops

 

To serve and protect

Is a simple proposition

If a cop cannot protect the people

If a cop claims a right to harm

If a cop refuses to be vaccinated

As a matter of personal freedom

That cop cannot fulfill his promise

That cop has betrayed her basic duty

And can no longer serve

In good conscience

 

In a city blighted by poverty and crime

That so many cops are willing to

Turn their backs on the public good

Is itself a crime against all cops

A disgrace to the uniform

A stain on the badge

 

Cops are not the arbiters of justice

Nor the determiners of policy

They are soldiers in this war

And soldiers must take orders

 

If what is happening in Chicago

Is happening in other cities

It is time to rebuild from

The bottom up

 

Remember Typhoid Mary

Who claimed her rights as well

Such rights would lead us all to hell

 

Looking Back

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Looking Back

 

Ten year ago pot was illegal

In fifty of fifty states

Twenty years ago killer cops

Never made the news

And black lives never mattered

Thirty years ago gay people

And gay love was outlawed

Forty years ago indigenous people

Had no voice in government

And the American genocide

Was not recorded in history

Fifty years ago the government

Spied on people with impunity

And soldiers returning from Vietnam

Received no treatment for wounds

Of the mind spirit or soul

Sixty years ago college athletes

Beat up hipsters and gays for fun

Seventy years ago we stood in line

For crewcuts and puff hairdos

Eighty years ago we fought

The fascist war machine

And won

 

The years roll by

Like a river runs

The waves of change

Sweep over us

In many ways we are so much

Better than once we were

In other ways we have advanced

Only to turn back again

 

The struggle never ends

Yet history still bends

Toward the righteous