Crossing Over

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Crossing Over (Birth of Evil)

 

Good cannot become evil

Without the seed of evil

Implanted in the soul

 

When the seed of evil is implanted

It requires nourishment to grow

 

Greed nourishes evil

Desire in its basest form

Anger and jealousy

Hatred and revenge

 

From these the evil seed is sown

The evil being is grown

 

Humans are born innocent

A fertile unspoiled soil

An open landscape

An undiscovered country

A great untapped unknown

 

A town without people

A place where nothing grows

A song without a tune

A dog without a bone

A dance without a partner

Too many years alone

 

We are neither good nor evil

Until something comes along

Something honest and virtuous

Something twisted and wrong

A shining hero or a villain

A disconcerting song

 

The story takes a turn

A bump along the road

Transforms us to a jackal

Instead of old Tom Joad

 

Wheel of Time

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS/HISTORY

Wheel of Time

 

Ancient stars collide in space

Spin the wheel of time

The birthing of the human race

Out of the muck we climb

We stand and walk upright

Discover tools and weapons

Battles we will fight

Close your eyes and spin

We build towers to the stars

Make deities of common men

Devise machinery and cars

Spin the wheel again

We irrigate the barren land

Invent alphabets and words

Write testaments by hand

Create systems and societies

Monuments so grand

Pills to ease anxieties

Take a break and spin

The wheel of time turns

Relentless and indifferent

To all we want and yearn

Our prayers and lamentations

Our worries and our greed

Advance the rule of nations

The patriotic seed

The wheel of time moves on

The force of all combined

A constant pulsing thrust

Beyond knowing and design

We look because we must

Spin the wheel and wait

A power most divine

Creations of the mind

The wheel of time turns

The movement of the tides

As we can only learn

To enjoy the ride

 

Thanksgiving

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Thanksgiving

 

Today we give pause

To acknowledge our blessings

We who have our basic needs fulfilled

Must thank our blessed good fortune

And acknowledge those who do not

 

We acknowledge the hungry

We acknowledge the poor

We acknowledge the homeless

We must open the door

 

For there must be a way

To fulfill all our needs

If we stop all our fighting

If we end all the greed

 

The bounty of earth is plentiful

There’s enough to go around

If we dedicate our gratitude

Better ways can be found

 

No child should be hungry

No mother without a home

Every soul should take comfort

Knowing no one is alone

 

 

Africa Spared

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

 

Africa Spared

 

It is the great mystery of life

Why some are touched by nature’s strife

The fortunate are left alone

The reasons why remain unknown

 

The continent that has suffered much

Through famine, drought, and war

The virus that has ravaged many

Largely stopped at Africa’s door

 

Some say it is the way of life

They spend much time outside

Some say their very constitution

Allows them to abide

 

We know that their good fortune

Bodes well for the planet earth

It should be studied carefully

For all that it is worth

 

We may never know the reason why

Some were spared while others died

We wonder at the mystery

And pray our own will survive

 

Ethiopian Civil War

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Ethiopian Civil War

 

At a time of global crises

The viability of the species in the balance

Instead of uniting against a common threat

Instead of forming bonds to benefit all

We divide in mutual distrust

We divide with an ancient grudge

We call each other liars

Pointing weapons of blame and fire

 

Instead of setting aside our grievances

Instead of declaring a temporary truce

Instead of negotiating a tentative peace

We rattle the swords of defiance

We proclaim our undying enmity

We close the peacemaking door

To engage in civil war

 

A leader of the western world once mused

How all our earthly animosities would

Vanish with a threat from the stars

 

He was wrong

 

All our common enemies

All our existential threats

Only serve to fuel our fires

To build our immortal debts

Enrage our vengeful desires

Enflame our will to harm

Until we build our towers of arms

Knowing we will never learn

Until our homes have burned

Leaving everything in sorrow

A curse upon tomorrow

And tomorrow

 

Cuba Llorando

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Cuba Llorando

 

You cannot stop the rain falling

You cannot stop the people calling

For a free and democratic voice

Here them cry out loud for choice

 

We cry for you dear Cuba

We understand your deep frustration

America has long betrayed

Your rights as a free nation

 

We stood by you all these years

In hopes you would progress

From a well-intentioned autocracy

To pass the democratic test

 

But alas you failed to listen

To the voices of the people

You are a nation without direction

Like a church without a steeple

 

It is not too late to change your ways

Let the majority decide

For you cannot stop the river running

And you cannot fight the tide