Azovstal

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

Azovstal (Ukraine)

 

Trapped beneath the surface

In a brutal fight for their mortal lives

All hope for relief waning

It is a struggle to survive

 

Russia loses another general

Putin cries it is not fair!

But there’s a price for bald aggression

Leave the cub, kill the bear

 

It is a portrait in pure courage

Beneath the surface of the earth

Fighting back the death machine

Leaves a measure of what they’re worth

 

They fight against all odds

They fight when hope grows thin

They fight on even knowing

It is a battle they cannot win

 

Is there a miracle in store for them?

Is there something we have not heard?

If there something we can do for them

Give the order, say the word

 

Losing Democracy

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Losing Democracy

 

Every nation that has lost democracy

Never saw it coming

Every nation that wants democracy

Knows how hard it is to gain it

 

Losing democracy begins with the idea

That it can’t happen here

That our press is too established

That our institutions are too strong

That our courts are too honorable

That we’ve held our values too long

 

We take democracy for granted

We fail to protect the right to vote

We allow parties to betray principles

We turn our backs on treason

 

Out of anger and desperation

We elect autocrats and traitors

We watch as they overturn elections

We watch as they expunge voters

We listen to their propaganda

We believe their lies

 

Losing democracy is easy

Protecting democracy is hard

Restoring democracy is harder still

 

Escalation

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

Escalation

 

We are cautioned against escalation

It’s time we warned the other side

You can’t destroy a sovereign nation

You can’t negotiate genocide

 

There’s not enough in your cupboards

And there’s too much on your plate

You will bankrupt your whole nation

If you dare choose to escalate

 

So gather up your weapons

Take your soldiers back home

If you want to build your empire

You will build it all alone

 

You have threatened the whole world

With a nightmare of war

But the greatest of all nightmares

Is the nightmare that is yours

 

So pull out while you still can

Admit you’ve met your mate

Immortal history will understand

It’s the only move left: de-escalate

 

The Madness of War

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS (UKRAINE)

 

Madness of War

 

Have I gone mad?

Have I awakened in another time?

With all the comforts of the modern world

We still endeavor war

What madness is this if not

A sickness of the soul?

We have machines that carve

Realities out of silicon

Enough food to feed all sentient beings

On an overpopulated planet

We have the means to settle Mars

Wealth and fame in ample supply

Art and culture to satisfy the masses

Mass and instant communications

The ability to live beyond our years

Yet we still engage in war

The brutal barbarity of war

The endless cycle of war

The futile exercise of mass destruction

Imposed on innocent people

Have I gone mad?

Then let me sleep a hundred years

And awaken when there is no war