100 Days of War

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

100 Days of War

 

A constant reign of terror

Missiles bombs and bullets fly

Buildings leveled to the floor

People scattered in all directions

Hospitals and neighborhoods

Battered murdered and destroyed

Cries of horror everywhere

Soldiers at the door

100 days of war

 

Ukraine has stood its ground

Her soldiers proud and strong

Against the Russian hordes

Whose cause is weak and wrong

Merciless and brutal

It is evil to the core

Sworn to honor’s code

100 days of war

 

How long can this go on?

How long can they survive?

What are they fighting for?

They are fighting for their lives

For their people to be free

For their rights to be restored

100 days of war

 

Fear and Outrage

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: MASS SHOOTINGS

Fear and Outrage

 

Don’t worry mama said

It will subside

What you’re feeling now

That feeling deep inside

It seems it’s there to stay

As if the pain and sorrow

Will never go away

 

Go to sleep now mama said

Dream of happy days

Daffodils and cotton candy

Dance and run and play

That feeling that you’re feeling

Be strong be true be brave

It will not last forever

In the morning it will fade

 

Morning came and mama said

Darling child dry your eyes

Tomorrow will be better

I promise do not cry

But tomorrow came and went

And mama said with a sigh

Some sorrow never leaves

I don’t know why

 

The Damned of Donbas

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

The Damned of Donbas

 

Remember the Trail of Tears

Remember the forced removal

Of the Cherokee from their native lands

Remember the long march from Tennessee

To the unwanted lands of Oklahoma

Remember the cries of white folks

As they stood along the path

And gave the trail its name

It would be a hundred years before

We called it what it was: genocide

 

History is repeated time and time again

A people uprooted from their native lands

Are severed from their ways of life

Broke and scattered they must rebuild

Their lives from the ground up

 

It has happened many times since

It is happening again in Ukraine

The people of the Donbas region

Are uprooted and scattered in a thousand

Different directions from Mongolia

To an obscure island in the Pacific

 

Those who profess love of Russia

May be permitted to stay

Those who stand by Ukraine

Are tossed about like dry leaves

In seven strong winds

 

There is a word for this crime

Against humanity

A word we must speak aloud

And never forget:

Genocide

 

The perpetrators of this crime

Must pay the price

They must live their remaining days

On earth as the damned of Donbas

 

Regression

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

Regression

 

Of all the tragedies of human existence

Regression is among the saddest

To watch a loved one age backward

In a prolonged sunset of life

To become a child in thought

To believe others exist only to serve

To display emotions like a new hat

To perceive minutia as a grand event

To shape the world to your desire

 

As individuals may regress

So too may states and nations

War itself is a symptom of regression

The desire to dominate and possess

To absorb neighbors and former friends

To feign offense at the least provocation

The emotional outrage of a child

To bend the world to your point of view

 

Beneath the surface of the regressed

There lies a profound sadness

For in the expanse of true history

In the just fullness of rolling time

The regressive view cannot prevail

The world will not conform to your wishes

Outrage will collapse inward

The child will grow up

The regressed will grow silent

The world demands acceptance

 

The Alliance (NATO)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

The Alliance

 

It is time to expand the NATO alliance

To all nations that embrace democracy

At home we fight to keep the faith

Against the forces of autocracy

 

While the war in Ukraine still rages

All nations must live in fear

But for those bordering the aggressor

The threat is all too near

 

The Nordic nations are worthy

Of our friendship and support

When they ask to be included

The ball will rest in our court

 

Expand the NATO alliance

To the world let it be known

We stand with the nations of Europe

While Russia stands alone