The Beast of Kazakhstan

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

The Beast of Kazakhstan

 

In the name of law and order

By order of executive decree

They shot down innocent protestors

Just for marching on the street

 

Dozens dead and numbers rising

For wanting to have a voice

A brazen leader worth despising

Opposed the basic right to choice

 

The heartless ruler of Kazakhstan

Stands strong with the Putin alliance

Numb to the people’s circumstance

Suppressing all acts of defiance

 

Free nations must rise and stand

To halt these waves of oppression

Resume the march of human rights

And end the age of regression

 

To the good people of Kazakhstan

Stand strong and make your case

Know that we stand with you

For the good of the human race

 

Memorial to Killers & Madmen

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL JUSTICE

Memorial

 

Evil men want to erase memories

Evil doers want to replace history

With patriotic mythologies

But the memorial remains

Indelibly imprinted in the hearts

And minds of the people

 

Stalin will always be Stalin

A stone-cold killer of men

Hitler will always be Hitler

A power-hungry madman

Mussolini will always be Mussolini

Driven by delusions of grandeur

Rasputin will always be Rasputin

Unchecked by moral grounding

Mao will always be Mao

Pol Pot will always be Pol Pot

Suharto will always be Suharto

Pinochet will always be Pinochet

Xi will always be Xi

And Putin will always be Putin

 

The memorial stands in perpetuity

Protected by the light of eternal truth

 

[Note: Putin orders the grim Memorial

to Stalin’s victims taken down.]

 

Whose Side are you On?

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Whose Side are you On? 

 

While the Trump insurrection rose

To a white-hot fever pitch

The army, the navy, and the guard

Stood down

 

The call to arms never came

The commander fell silent

The four-stars fell silent

 

They watched from the sidelines

As the gates of the Capitol fell

They watched as the halls of congress

Filled with angry assailants

They watched as the Capitol police

Were trampled by the mob

 

They knew without knowing

The president was behind the assault

They took sides by not taking sides

Between an outgoing president

And the house of the people

They chose the former

Between democracy and autocracy

They chose the latter

 

The question must now be asked

To every officer and soldier

In every branch of military service:

 

Whose side are you on?

The United States of America?

Or its betrayers? 

 

An Army in Hiding

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

An Army in Hiding

 

The insurgent army of January 6

Did not vanish with the smoke

Did not repent and disband

Did not cease to exist

 

The army of Trump

The army of Q

The army of white supremacy

Went back home to wait and watch

Went back home to recruit their kind

Went back home to gather arms

Went back home to build a movement

Went back home to hide in plain sight

 

The insurgent strike was a warning shot

They we have not taken to heart

Our media monopolies

Our talking heads

Our civil organizations

Our political establishment

Our institutions of law

Our elected leaders

At all levels of government

Have reacted to a violent assault

As if it was a political movement

Like the anti-tax Tea Party

Like the rise of the new progressives

Instead of the militant action it was

 

The army of the insurgency

Did not surrender

They retreated strategically

They withdrew from the battlefield

To fight another day

 

Their army is still intact

Their leaders are still in place

They prepare for the next battle

While our side (the American side)

Issues subpoenas and summons witnesses

 

By the time we awaken

To what must be done

Let us hope there is still a democracy

A United States of America

To defend

 

Praying for a Miracle

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Praying for a Miracle

 

The party went on as usual

Bands music laughter dance

As time passed fewer masks

Were worn by greater crowds

Drinking rose and lowered inhibitions

Gathering with friends and family

Witnessed no talk of the silent scourge

The elephant beneath the surface

The monster no one mentions

Though we all know is lurking

 

We’re banking on a miracle

To save us from ourselves

Banking on a miracle

To restore our fading health

 

In the nation where Mandela lived

In the southern hemisphere

For reasons no one understands

A miracle appears

 

The scourge is in remission

The omicron withdraws

Like an army in retreat before

The outcome is determined

 

Pray we get lucky

Pray it’s finally over

Not because we beat it

But because it tired of the battle

And retired to await another day

 

Lowest Common Denominator

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

Lowest Common Denominator

 

If we empower parents to veto

What can or cannot be taught in school

We’re playing to the lowest denominator

A curriculum for dolts and fools

 

Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain?

Hold on, think again

The man used the N word

(the one that doesn’t rhyme with tiger)

Like the rumbling of a train

 

Virginia Woolf and Thomas Paine?

Marked with a blasphemous stain

 

The truth about the American west?

It would never pass the test

 

The war to end the war in Nam?

Does anyone really give a dam?

 

The poetry of William Blake?

Throw it out for God’s sake

 

Socrates of ancient Greece?

We value his philosophy least

 

Let parents be the parents

Let teachers run the schools

Don’t ask anyone to do a job

If they do not possess the tools