New Year

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

New Year

 

On the other side of the world

The war continues unabated

Putin’s horrors are unfurled

As if it had been fated

 

We would change it if we could

We would bring it to an end

We would lock away the madman

And all his brutal friends

 

What more can we do but let

Our government know we care?

Send our aide and best wishes

Make it easier to bear

 

Make the oligarchs pay the cost

For Putin’s war of cruel attrition

Let him know his cause is lost

Cut off his ammunition

 

In our part of the world

The wars are only metaphors

The battle for democracy

A trail of horrid storms

 

We know life could be harder

We know it could be worse

Our storms are free of missiles

We still think of ourselves first

 

But we swear we’ll not forget

The many hardships you endure

This world is ever smaller

Of that we can be sure

 

As we say goodbye to twenty-two

And welcome twenty-three

We hope for better days ahead

Though what will be will be

 

(Happy New Year to all!)

The Martyr

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

The Martyr (Mohsen Shekari)

 

A child grows up wanting to be

A firefighter, a police officer, a doctor

A lawyer, a cowboy, a chief

 

No one grows up wanting to be a martyr

No one aspires to be stoned

by the morality police

No one wants to be remembered

for their sacrifice

 

But we do want to be heroes

We do want to be remembered for

standing strong on principle

We do want our names to be passed on

to future generations

We do want to be known for the

courage of our convictions

 

Let the name of Mohsen Shekari be

etched in the stone of martyrdom

alongside Mahsa Amini

 

Let their courage and conviction be

Known throughout Iran and across

the world to the end of time

 

He did not wish to be martyred

yet his martyrdom speaks of honor

and his honor lives on

 

The Crazy

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

The Crazy (Germany and Peru)

 

A mad movement in Berlin

An attempt to overthrow the Bundestag

To replace it with a second Reich

(one short of Adolph Hitler)

Extremists of the right unite

To take their place in history

As proof positive beyond belief

There is no place on earth

Above or beyond the crazy

 

The Q is the cue to rally the crew

Against the powers that be

But there is no power on earth

That can topple democracy

 

The president of Peru decides

To banish the Peruvian congress

The military commander resigns

Not so fast says congress

We are the people’s house

We stand for basic liberty

Peru will choose the people

This crazy will not be

 

The Q is the cue to rally the crew

Against the powers that be

But there is no power on earth

That can topple democracy

 

The Children

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

The Children

 

The child who grows up

In this world of modern madness

Must be of special countenance

Of stubborn strength and endurance

Of ingenious imagination

Of talents beyond our comprehension

Of skills as yet untapped

 

For their world will challenge them

As we were never challenged in ours

 

In their hands we leave the abolition of war

In their hands the health of the planet

In their hands the survival of the species

In their hands the balance of global power

In their hands the scourge of poverty

In their hands the strength of democracy

 

Previous generations have tackled

Problems of critical importance

But none rise to the magnitude of those

Confronting this generation

 

Previous generations have embraced the

Challenge of going to the moon

Crossing oceans to uncover new continents

Finding peace in a world at war

Toppling dictators and hereditary monarchs

Conquering disease and advancing medicine

Building monuments of engineering

Mastering miraculous technologies

 

None of these challenges

However great and earth changing

Compares to what the future holds

For the children of today

 

A Christmas Dream

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

A Christmas Dream

 

In the hours of the deepest night

I awaken to a dream

I see a world of quiet comfort

Not a soul in desperate need

No homeless poor or hungry

A land of honey milk and mead

The people smile and welcome me

With wishes warm and sweet

Joyful music fills the air

The people on the streets

Are taken into firesides

With warm and tasty treats

No one yells and no one screams

There is no anger here

There is only gentle kindness

Filled with laughter and good cheer

 

There are people of all shapes

From round to pencil thin

There are people of all sizes

Like there have always been

There are people of every color

And every style of dress

They have a look of happiness

As if they’ve all been blessed

 

Not one of us feels lesser than

In this place we all are free

We feel a sense of wonder

We move with grace and ease

All our sorrows cast asunder

There is no sickness or disease

Contentment courses through the air

I marvel at this world of peace

Dream it if you dare

Dream it if you please

 

Peace on Earth

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR & PEACE

Peace on Earth

 

In this moment of solemnity

As quiet comforts my soul

It seems a long hard road ahead when

Peace on earth sticks in my throat

When hope sometimes grows old

We shiver in our winter coats

We fight against the cold

 

Though our wish for peace is great

Our prayers are greater still

Those in the zone of war must wonder

How much our prayers are worth

Their friends and loved ones killed

They also prayed for peace on earth

As winter brought a chill

As Christmas brought a dearth

 

But pray for peace we must

In the winter of our darkest fears

For all the world seems hollow

Our yuletide glow seems dreary

And we would yield our winter cheer

Our songs and loving wishes

For a just and lasting peace this year

For peace on earth next year

 

The Long Hard Winter

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

The Long Hard Winter

 

It’s a long hard winter in Ethiopia where

famine spreads like a deadly disease

Where the war for control of a dying land

seems it will never end

Where a life is valued at less than a single

digit in the local currency

Where the oil cartels and the mineral cartels

and the precious metals cartels employ

natives at semi-slave wages while feeding

the militias with weapons of war

 

It’s a long hard winter in Alabama and Louisiana

where storms and hurricanes line up to batter

the poor like ghosts of hurricanes past

 

It’s a long hard winter on the east coast

of America from Maine down to Virginia

where the freeze knocks out power and

the chill enters the marrow of bones

 

It’s a long hard winter in the Midwest

from Minnesota to Tennessee where the

frost nips at your toes and numbs your

fingertips

 

It’s a long hard winter most everywhere

On every continent and every sea

But it’s harder and longer in Ukraine

where it’s raining missiles from Moscow

most everywhere you see

 

Strike Back (Ukraine)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

Strike Back

 

You thought it was safe to start a war

You were impervious to attack

Now you have a new reality

The Ukrainians will strike back

 

It’s easier when it’s pure aggression

Fight a war on enemy ground

Now that the war has come home

The people will bring you down

 

This war was never justified

And it will never be forgot

A crime against all of humanity

A just and good war it was not

 

Your days are numbered now

You’ve made your last mistake

We will mourn the needless death

And the nightmares that men make

 

That you will never triumph

Is a fact you can be sure

Aggression is a disease

Unity is the cure

 

Turkey & NATO

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Turkey & the NATO Alliance

 

Finland and Sweden want to join NATO

Turkey stands in the way

Expel Turkey from the alliance

Erdogan should have nothing to say

 

Turkey has become a liability

Bombing the Kurds who defeated ISIS

Finland and Sweden are democracies

Who would you rather have in a crisis?

 

NATO should represent more than power

The Kurdish people are our allies

In the guidance of Erdogan’s Turkey

Democracy is nothing but lies

 

The Turkish people must decide

With whom they wish to be friends

If they side with ISIS and Russia

Their time in NATO should be at an end

 

Guilty

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Guilty (Sedition)

 

Proud Boys ain’t so proud today

The Oath Keepers break their vows

Pronounced guilty, sent to prison

For as long as the law allows

 

Let all extremists be forewarned

If you attack the ship of state

Be prepared to pay the price

For acting out your hate

 

Treason is a nasty word

How else would you describe it?

You led an angry mob that day

Pushed forward from inside it

 

Now the day of judgment comes

Bow your heads in shame

You’ll live in lasting infamy

Traitor shall be your name

 

Robocop in San Francisco

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Robocop in San Francisco

 

The future arrives in San Francisco

Robotic law enforcement

What in seven heavens could go wrong?

Riot control

Death by cop

Justice by machine

Drop your gun or face the music

An old familiar song

 

It was only a matter of time

We trust the machine more

Than we trust the humans

Robot bankers

Robot clerks

Robot attorneys at law

Robot babysitters

Robot financial advisors

Robot card dealers

Robot construction workers

Robot doctors

Robot insurance agents

 

There is little robots cannot do

It is only a question of time

The question then becomes

What do robots do with us?

 

Fourth Wind

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

Fourth Wind

 

When the first wind blows

The heavens whisper blessings

A lullaby of peaceful dreams

 

When the second wind blows

Our senses set alert

Dust stirs and leaves scatter

We watch the evening sun

 

When the third wind blows

All creatures are alarmed                                              

Dogs howl and birds take flight

Dark clouds invade the sky

Tall trees bend and fences fold

 

When the fourth wind blows

Terror rips through a darkened sky

Trees fall and mountains tremble

We hide ourselves in shelters

Huddle with our loved ones

Pray the storm will pass us by

 

We are at the mercy of nature

The four winds and hard rains

Years of drought and melting glaciers

Typhoons tsunamis hurricanes

She commands our respect

As we beg for her forgiveness

 

Football Riots in Belgium

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Football Riots in Belgium

 

In a world on the edge of destruction

A never-ending series of tragedy

 

With millions of people dead

From a virus we could not control

 

With democracy on the balance

in nations once thought secure

 

With economies at the breaking point

With homelessness on the rise

and the plight of the working poor

 

In a world of global warming

bringing storms like never before

 

In a world brutal aggression

upending the world of order

bringing threats of nuclear war

 

The Belgians throw a riot

over a football score

 

(Morocco defeats Belgium 2-0)

 

Artemis

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Artemis

 

The journey to eternity begins with Artemis

A momentary stop on the dark side of the moon

A space station, a launching post

A short jump to the red planet

As the century unfolds

Another station on the moons of Saturn

Artemis II, Artemis III and IV

The universe expands as we ride the waves

to the edge of the galaxy

From there the stars reveal the secrets

that open the doors of infinite space

A window to beyond

Survival of the race

It all begins with Artemis