The Gift

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

The Gift

 

I shall make the perfect gift

To bestow upon this world

A human to replace us

Before it comes unfurled

 

A being that’s impervious

To the myriad problems we must face

Like climate change and nuclear war

Tempting the end of the human race

 

There will be no pandemics

To purge the weak and poor

With death itself in question

We’ll have no need for war

 

Still I wonder at the consequence

Of eliminating human flaws

Life without need or fear

A civilization without laws

 

Is this a gift or curse?

For the poet shall be lost

To save humans from themselves

Will come at a great cost

 

Don't Forget Me

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Don’t Forget Me

 

I was beaten without cause

I was battered without reason

Because of who I am and where I live

My home was leveled to the ground

My people scattered like dust

To the four corners of the globe

 

We pleaded through tears for help

And help came from everywhere

With kindness and good will

Giving us precious hope

 

Now the outside world has moved on

The cameras no longer film

The state of our daily misery

Now we suffer alone

The river of help runs dry

And our hope begins to fade

 

I am Ukraine

And I am in imminent danger

Of being wiped from the earth

I am in danger of disappearing

Without notice or care

My pleas fall on deaf ears

Yet still I plea

I am here

Do not forget me

 

Marching Backwards

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

Marching Backwards

 

Marching backwards into history

Marching to reclaim lost rights

Marching to reverse reconstruction

Marching for a woman’s right to choose

Marching for a black man’s right to vote

Marching for a safe and civil society

Marching for freedom of speech

Marching for a free press

Marching to end homelessness

Marching to feed the poor

Marching for the right to organize

Marching for equal pay

Marching to end slave labor

Marching for migrant rights

Marching to stop mass murder

Marching to end the war

 

We have marched this march before

So many years, so many times

So often that our feet are sore

We marched to push progress forward

But it seems progress is a revolving door

Two steps back, one step fore

We cannot but ask what is it for?

Each time you ask we give you more

The time has come to measure gains

Instead we’re marching back again

 

War Zone

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

 

War Zone

 

A nation that watches dozens

Of its people killed by gunfire

Doesn’t need to go to war

We live in a war zone

We are in perpetual war

We alone in this world

Allow such brutal carnage

We alone do nothing to stop it

 

Are we more impassioned than

The people of other nations?

Witness the Paris uprisings

Witness the protests of London

Witness the riots of Berlin

 

Are we more violent than other nations?

Witness the Spanish Inquisition

The War of the Roses

The rise of the Third Reich

The revolutions of Latin America

 

No and no again

We are no different than others

But we have one thing

Other nations do not have

The second amendment

Unfettered access to guns

And weapons of war

Period

 

Pointing Fingers (January 6)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: INSURRECTION

Pointing Fingers

 

Fingers were made to point

(and grab and hold by the neck)

Those who attacked the capitol

Did a whole lot of finger pointing

They pointed at the vice president

Who refused to do Trump’s bidding

They pointed at the cops

For standing in their way

They pointed at all of congress

For upholding their solemn oath

They pointed at the Democrats

For being Democrats

They pointed at Republicans

For not being Trump enough

They pointed at the media

For bending their twisted truths

They pointed at Antifa

For not joining their ranks

They pointed at every human

Within the range of their rage

They pointed at everyone

Except the one who told them

It was their patriotic duty

To march on the capitol

To stop the proceedings

By any and all means

At any and all costs

The one who said

I’ll be there with you

But he wasn’t there

He sat in the White House

Watching it all go down

In vivid color on television

The one who never asked

(or never cared to ask)

What if they do kill

Nancy Pelosi and Ocasio-Cortez?

What if they do hang Mike Pence?

The one who sat and watched

And never cared enough

To lift his little finger