Saturday, July 02, 2022

Killer Court

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE 

 

Killer Court 

Guns abortion climate change 

There is blood on the court's hands 

The same court that could find no 

 constitutional right to privacy 

The same court that invented an 

individual right to carry arms in public 

The same court that finds no grounds 

for the right to vote in fair elections 

Rules now that the constitution blocks 

the Environmental Protection Agency 

from doing its most basic job 

 

In the immortal words of Richard Nixon 

Make no mistake: There is blood on this court's hands 

By the end of the decade, this court 

The Kavanaugh and Thomas court 

The Alito, Gorsuch and Coney Barrett Court 

 Indeed, the Catholic Court will henceforth 

be known as the Killer Court 

But the constitution says nothing 

about blood 

 

Thursday, June 30, 2022

The Rise of Europe

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS


The Rise of Europe

 

The stage is set

The beast has shown its teeth

The unifying threat

He strikes when we’re weak

Or so he thinks

Or so he thinks

 

A new empire he seeks

To sanctify his past

A union of dictatorships

That cannot last

It cannot last

 

Democracy will rise again

And Europe leads the way

Putin played his hand too soon

It will not pay

He cannot stay

 

He played his hand in Germany

He counted on the Reich

But the neo-Nazis could not hold

The people have grown wise

It is you they despise

You they defy

 

He played his hand in Paris

But the numbers came up short

Le Pen lost in the election

They lost in the courts

He will lose again

He cannot win

Cannot will not win

 

He has lost in the Nordic states

They wish to rise in freedom

In the morning when they wake

They know what’s at stake

They know what to make

Of false prophets

Who only take

And take and take

 

When Europe stays united

With the democratic west

Ukraine wins its freedom

The world shows its best

We’ll pass this test

And reinvest

In freedom and democracy

 

Wednesday, June 29, 2022

Everyman

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS


Everyman

 

As I look in the mirror

Who and what do I see?

I know well the man

Looking back at me

 

An old man with a thousand tales

A young man who never fails

A sinner and a saint

The one you think is but ain’t

A man who sold his soul

A soldier who will not grow old

A woman who sees tomorrow

A man who bathes in sorrow

A portrait of a lonely being

The one who hears the angels sing

 

I am everyone it seems

Everyone who lives and dreams

I am everyone who journeys on

And everyone who sings this song

I am everyone who waits the night

And everyone who sees the light

Goodnight, my dear, goodnight

 

Monday, June 27, 2022

They're Coming

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS


They’re Coming

 

They’re coming for us now

Like they always said they would

We’ve got your number boy

We know where you live

They want us to be scared

To run away and hide

They don’t think we’ll fight back

We are on the peaceful side

But they don’t know our rage

They only know our fear

They don’t know our passion

For the values we hold dear

 

They’re right about the guns

And our reluctance to use force

But we will take to the streets

And we will hold to the course

We owe it to our forebearers

To all those who marched before

So beat us down if you will

Roll us over if you must

We will rise like the Phoenix

Until we leave you in the dust

 

(Supreme Court overturns

Roe V. Wade; Thomas warns

gay marriage is next)

 

Sunday, June 26, 2022

The Hearings

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

The Hearings

 

They’re having hearings in Washington

About the uprising of January Six

Haven’t we had that already? we said

I recall how it made us sick

So no one is tuning in today

We all think it’s a partisan trick

 

Maybe it sounds a bit absurd

Like the song of a silent bird

Like the weight of a nebulous word

It’s the hearings that nobody heard

 

A witness recalls the horror

She survived by the tip of her tongue

It’s a shame that no is listening

To a song that’s already been sung

We refuse to go back to that day

Regardless of what is at stake

We’ll go on with our mundane lives

Politics?  Give us a break

 

For though it might sound absurd

Like the song of a silent bird

Or the weight of a nebulous word

It’s the hearings that nobody heard