The New Front

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

The New Front (Ukraine)

 

The war in Ukraine has taken a turn

We have begun the long game

A shortage of petrol across Europe

The Ukrainians take the blame

 

The Dow Jones has taken a dive

How much more can people take?

Before we suffer financial pain

The Ukrainians we must forsake

 

But if we recognize the eminent danger

That Vladimir Putin has in mind

We will hold on for the long road

We will stand and hold the line

 

We can be sure the Russian people

Have suffered more than all of us

They must depose their monstrous leader

To rebuild the bridge of trust

 

Ukrainian Independence

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL DEMOCRACY

Ukrainian Independence

 

Three decades ago and a year

Sing a song, give a cheer

Ukraine became a new nation

The Soviet collapse was their salvation

 

After seventy years of subjugation

Ukraine declared itself a nation

As the Soviet empire crumbled

Like a tower made of sand

A cry of freedom throughout the land

The empire is dead!

Say goodnight and go to bed

 

Three decades and a year today

Ukraine became a free nation

But the darkness always loomed

The prospect of an invasion

 

Now Ukraine must fight again

Until the world alas stands strong

Against oppressors and invaders

Against a clear and evil wrong

 

Inherent Evil

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Inherent Evil (Ode to Putin)

 

Born under a bad sign

Never had a chance

The stars aligned on the dark side

Of a bitter and lonely moon

A bad seed

A genetic predisposition

The curse of a wicked sister

Inherent evil

 

Does it enter the soul

Like a virus enters the body?

Does it embed itself and

Spread like a malignant tumor?

Or is it present at birth?

Waiting like a predator in hiding?

 

Clouds of darkness reign

On the seventh hour

Of the seventh day

In the month of seven moons

Caw of the crow!

Howl of the wolf!

The day the earth stood still

Night of the dead

Preordained

The way it always was

The way it had to be

 

Or maybe … it is random chance

Maybe it’s a roll of the dice

Seven come eleven

Snake eyes

Nothing to be done

Lay back and let it happen

Or pray to the gods of mercy

For a kinder gentler world

The Return of Polio

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL HEALTH

The Return of Polio

 

You have a right to believe

Anything you want to believe

As long as it does no harm

To any other living being

But when your beliefs

Become weapons that harm and kill

You no longer possess that right

 

You may choose to believe

Against all empirical evidence

Against all accumulated knowledge

For reasons political or societal

That vaccines are works of the devil

That science and medicine are facades

Invented to control the masses

That polio and the Spanish flu

Were not the threats we are told they were

But when your actions or inactions

Result in the needless suffering

Of your children and mine

Then you have lost your way

And must somehow be reclaimed

No one wants a mandate

But in matters of health and survival

Mandates become necessary

 

Democracy

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Democracy

 

Democracy is not a party

It is the foundation of a free society

It is beyond and above party

It has no interest in which side wins

 

Democracy is the soul of America

The bond that holds free nations together

That distinguishes Europe from Russia

That divides Russia from Ukraine

That separates China from India

Republics from despotic states

 

Democracy is the protector of human rights

The defender of free speech

The enforcer of the people’s will

The ideology that found its modern birth

In the United States of America

That formed its conception in the Magna Carta

and the Declaration of Independence

 

Democracy is not a party

It does not care about social issues

It does not care about religions

It does not care about abortion

It does not care about tax rates

It does not care about regulation

It does not care about prayer in the schools

Or the right to privacy

 

Democracy has no horse in the race

It is the race

It is the people

It is America

It is the hope of the world

And the promise of humanity