War Must End

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

War Must End

 

This war must seek an end

If the end is to be just

The Russian people must lend a hand

To stop their brutal leader

A message they must send

The propaganda no longer works

The blood of war is clear

There is no justice

There is no righteousness

There is no grand destiny

There is no patriotic glory

There is only thirst for power

There is only self-aggrandizement

There is only egocentrism

When your ego is put to rest

The cause for war disintegrates

Like the dewy mist of morning

 

This war must seek an end

Before the twisted needs of one man

Supplant the well-being of humanity

Before the poison of war spreads

Throughout Europe, across Asia

To the four corners of the globe

Before the blood of war becomes

A torrent, a waterfall, a river of remorse

This war must end and all those

Responsible for its perpetuation

Must be held to stern account

 

China vs. Chinese

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

China vs. Chinese

 

I have a problem with China

I have no problem with the Chinese

I have no problem with the Asians

They have no problem with me

 

Asian Americans are rightly proud

For the things they have achieved

They have a right to say it loud

When cut do they not bleed?

 

China is a wayward nation

Our adversary in many ways

They oppose our basic freedoms

They block the path to a living wage

 

The Chinese government is oppressive

Chinese Americans are not the same

They’ve worked hard for what they have

For China they’re not to blame

 

Land of Plenty

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Land of Plenty

 

Hunger in a land of plenty

How can this be so?

The more they feed us propaganda

The less the people know

 

They tell us we are prosperous

We’ve more than we can use

But once we’ve paid our daily bills

We’ve nothing left to lose

 

Hungry in a land of plenty

We blame our president

You gave us something for our pain

But who will pay the rent?

 

We’re working after hours now

We’ve got those hunger blues

When our kids are going hungry

What else can we do?

 

Dehumanization

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

 

Dehumanization

 

Dehumanization begins with

The delineation of classes

Be it royalty or wealth

The division of the masses

Into higher and lower beings

Enables cruelty and neglect

To those of lesser means

The undeserving of respect

Born to serve their betters

Those of higher pedigree

Those of wealth, the jetsetters

Those who brandish their degrees

From institutions of privilege

Harvard, Yale and Trinity

 

They’re simply better than the ones

Who sweat for their next meal

The ones who live by their hands

The ones who often beg and steal

Won’t they ever understand

By the turning of the wheel

They’re simply cruder, lesser than

The ones who carry the great seal

The royal bloodline of the grand

 

Within the circles of the few

Who speak in whispers soft but sure

There is nothing we can do

To ease their suffering

We are the chosen, wise and pure

While they are something more obscure

Dare I say (something less than human)

 

Brave New World

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Brave New World

 

The brave new world came and went

Before our fascination spent

We rallied to the cry: resist!

They took their shot and missed

 

The people here are not so lame

Our wilder spirits cannot be tamed

With medicines or other pills

That sap and shape the force of wills

We are as we have always been

Individualistic women and men

Who worship at the sacred tree

Fight long and hard for liberty

 

We play our separate roles

We’ll never lose our separate souls

Nor sacrifice our sanity

To your dystopian vanity

We know we have our flaws

There are too many laws

That tell us what to think and do

That try to sell us something new

Something bigger brighter wiser

No more greed no more misers

No more worries no more cares

We’ll all have our equal shares

No more loneliness or sorrow

A promise for a new tomorrow

 

We will fight it to the end

On that you can depend

 

(re: Aldous Huxley)

 

Resistance to Change

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Resistance to Change

 

There is a natural aversion to anything

and everything different than what is

and what has been for a thousand years

or so it seems to me

 

In every field of endeavor from the science

of microscopic etymology to the art of

esoteric architecture there is a stubborn

resistance to change

 

So it is in art and poetry, philosophy and

psychology, religion and mythology,

physics and ecology, quantum mechanics

and sociology

 

When presented with new and challenging

ideas that break the mold of our thoughts

we resist with all the strength we can gather

for as long as our dams will hold

 

Little wonder that when the dams give way

the waves of destruction engulf towns and

cities, nations and civilizations, entire

disciplines and cherished schools of thought

vanished in the fog of time

 

Ever wonder what happened to the alchemists?