Universality

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Universality (Every Mother’s Son)

I’ve been all around this country

And there’s a few things that I know

Folks are pretty much the same

No matter where you go

I’ve lived a life in Tennessee

California is my home

I’ve hung my hat in New York City

Though I’ve never been to Nome

Chorus:

This is the simple truth my friend

No matter what you hear

There are those who would divide us

By playing to our fear

We might wear our hair in different styles

We might favor different clothes

But we love our friends and family

When we let our feelings show

I’ve been to other countries

I’ve flown across the sea

I’ve met good people everywhere

Who seem a lot like me

We don’t need to have a civil war

We don’t need to carry guns

We just need to know and understand

We’re every mother’s son *

We’re every mother’s son my friend

And every father’s daughter

We all breathe the same air

We all drink the same water

This is the simple truth my friend

No matter what you hear

There are those who would divide us

By playing to our fears

* and daughter

The Heat

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

 

The Heat

 

The heat is a cage

That surrounds and entraps me

In my body

In my mind

In my spirit willing

Deep in my oppressive fear

There is no escape

There is no relief

The heat climbs inside my soul

Inside the hole that used to be

The suffering of my memories

The heat warps my perception

Of all that is

Of all that was

Of all that will ever be

 

Have you ever been so hot

You cannot think

You cannot stand

You cannot walk

Until the cooling comes

And all this punishing heat

All this swarming pounding heat

Begins to recede

Like the coming of fall

Like a glass of fresh spring

Like nightfall used to be

When dinosaurs walked the earth

 

Relativity

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Relativity

 

The price of a dozen eggs

The cost of a tank of gas

A pounding wave of heat and fire

A man with murder on his brain

An assault on democracy

People living in the parks

People killed in the grocery store

Another month without rain

Working people evicted

A shortage of police

The cost of a used vehicle

People enduring constant pain

If you think it could not be worse

Let me politely explain:

You could be in Ukraine

 

London is in lockdown

The Amazon is burning

Fires streak across Brazil

Across much of southern France

Across Portugal and Spain

Northern Africa is roasting

The Middle East and Bahrain

Creeks and rivers running dry

Destroying crops and wilting grain

If you think it could not be worse

It could be Yemen or Ukraine

 

The Age of Fire

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

 

The Age of Fire

 

The wind is filled with rage

This warming will not tire

We begin this horrid age

Of wind and smoke and fire

 

The politicians all knew well

They saw clearly what was coming

But instead of speaking out

They bred the global dumbing

 

We know now we can’t escape

The consequence most dire

A swelling of the oceans

We’re in the age of fire

 

So pray to all the gods

To mitigate the harm

We sacrificed our future

By raising no alarm

 

We know you will be angry

We feel your sense of ire

We did not raise a hand

To stop the age of fire

 

Global Dumbing

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

 

Global Dumbing

 

One hundred Fahrenheit in Britain

Wildfires across France and Spain

Two hundred years of industrial waste

Hide your head and pray for rain

 

We can’t say we were not warned

We knew this day was coming

Crushing drought and extreme storms

Global warming, global dumbing

 

The sea is hot, the land is dry

It’s fuel for raging flames

We can’t pretend we don’t know why

We cannot play denial games

 

The sky is brown, the land is black

We pray an end will come

But common sense is what we lack

Global warming, global dumb