We the People

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

We the People

 

The question is not how did congress

become so dysfunctional?

The question is how did the people

become so cynical?

 

We the people elected these buffoons

We the people placed in power individuals

determined to grind the wheels of

government to a halt

We the people elevated an angry mob to

the hallowed halls of governance

 

At a time of historical need

With climate crises bearing down like the

last train to Harlem at midnight

With the scourge of war striking at the

heart of Europe

With the soul of democracy hanging

by the thinnest thread

 

The question now becomes:

will we the people wake up in time

to pull these misfits into something

resembling functional order or will

we allow them to drag us down the

rabbit hole to total self-destruction?

 

We the people created this monster

We the people must strike it dead

 

The Grail

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

The Grail

 

Down the road at Lawrence Livermore Lab

They fused atoms to produce energy

And the government gladly paid the tab

 

Nuclear science says it’s the holy grail

An inexpensive clean energy source

The greatest thing since the US Mail

Are we interested? Of course!

 

An end to fossil fuel dependence

An end to global climate change

A chance to save our own descendants

A future completely rearranged

 

But the corporations that sell us oil

Won’t sit still for this

Free energy makes their blood boil

It is on their Kill it! list

 

The people must rise up

To demand what we deserve

It is the fabled cup

For all humanity it will serve

 

The Cleansing

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

 

The Cleansing (Let it Rain)

 

Day after day the rain falls

As if to make up for lost time

As if all the world was parched

In desperate need of cleansing

Let it rain

 

If only we could cleanse the world

Of hatred, greed and vengeance

If only the rain would wipe away

Sorrow, pain and hopelessness

If only the great cleansing could

Sweep all weapons of war into

The deep of the deepest sea

If only the rain could cleanse

The soul of every man and woman

Until the world itself was made anew

 

But the world does not work that way

It follows the laws of nature

Who knows? Maybe the laws will

Bend for the great cleansing

Let it rain

 

Deep State

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Deep State

 

We nearly lost our democracy

Not because we believed in conspiracies

Not because we believe in a deep state

Not because the deep state took control

of our institutions of government

but because corrupt and power hungry

individuals used the “deep state” to

persuade a large number of people to

turn against their own government

 

If there is a deep state (and I believe

there is) it is the enemy of democracy

It is allied with the forces that attacked

and attempted to overthrow our government

That defied our democratic institutions

The deep state worked overtime to

subvert our system of justice

The deep state is and represents the

wealthiest of the wealthy elite

The deep state created and promotes

the Federalist Society

The deep state virtually owns the

highest court in the land

The deep state fights against all limits

on campaign financing

The deep state supports disenfranchisement

The deep state opposes voting rights

The deep state supports gerrymandering

The deep state opposes all democratic reforms

 

The deep state is beyond political parties

The deep state wants control of the

political, judicial and legislative branches

The deep state is eager to impose a one-man rule

(the easier to control)

 

Never believe that the deep state is defeated

It can never be extinguished

In many ways the deep state is winning

Only democracy can oppose them

Only democracy can defeat them

The fight will never end

 

New Beginning

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

 

New Beginning

 

In the wonder we call life

There is no greater miracle

Within our sense or sight

Than the turning of the years

The come and going of the light

 

We say a long goodbye

Each December come to pass

With a cheer and then a sigh

For all things that cannot last

No matter how we wish

No matter how we cry

The years roll by too quickly

All things that live must die

 

But there will be another year

And another will roll by

As we hold our loved ones near

With a long and wishful sigh