A Moral Dilemma

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

A Moral Dilemma (Conscription)

 

To defend one’s nation from a foreign

invader is above all a righteous cause

But military conscription without

exemption defies all moral laws

 

Without doubt Ukraine is in desperate need

Their enemy lacks all moral restraint

Our soul cries out, our conscience bleeds

We pray to the heavens for a warrior saint

 

But conscription is not the answer

It betrays all sense of the good and right

To a righteous cause it is a cancer

You cannot answer right with might

 

We cannot know what the future holds

We can only hope the good prevails

We pray our side is strong and bold

That the wind will bless our sails

 

As we charge into this windswept sea

Let us always yield to the right and true

For what we dream is what will be

And what we are is what we do

 

Don't Swim in the Seine

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RIVER SERIES

Swimming in the Seine

 

There are many things that you can do

Like singing in the rain

Like driving down a lonely road

Or strolling down a country lane

You can take a trip to Iceland

You can spend some time in Spain

You can say or do a million things

And do them once again

But you can’t swim in the Seine

 

For the river is a toxic stew

It would surely make you ill

You might survive the poisoning

If you take a magic pill

You might do it if you dared

But the wiser will refrain

There’s a world of awe in Paris

It’s a place where one has been

But don’t swim in the Seine

 

You can walk down Champs Elysees

You can visit Musee d’Orsay

Bow down before the Arc de Triomphe

Pay your respect to Notre Dame

You cannot miss la Tour Eiffel

Nor the grace of Pere Lachaise

The Louvre is filled with wonders

You can share them with a friend

But you can’t swim in the Seine

 

Day of Change

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

Day of Change

 

What will we do when the lights go out?

When the grid no longer holds?

Will we find a place to hide away?

Or has our refuge since been sold?

 

What will we do when the lakes go dry?

When the rivers no longer flow?

Will we steal away our water supply?

Will we pack our bags and go?

 

A day of change is coming

We can feel it in the air

The ties that bind have come undone

It is much too much to bear

 

Will we sacrifice our decency?

Our sense of right and wrong?

Will we cast aside our dignity?

Have we known it all along?

 

That day of change is coming

The pounding of the sun

Best settle in the best we can

There is no place to run

 

France is France Again

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

France is France Again

 

The voice of France has risen

France is France again

A unity of disparate parties

Has defeated Marine Le Pen

 

There’s a lesson in this for all of us

Who are facing a similar choice

The way to defeat the extremist right

Is to find a united voice

 

They vilify the “others”

They exploit the people’s fears

They claim to have the answers

As the end of days draws near

 

But there answer is a power grab

That elevates their own

They dismantle your republic

And build a fascist throne

 

All of France can celebrate

But we must stand on guard

It’s easy to lose democracy

Maintaining it is hard

 

Strange Times

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Strange Times

 

The vagaries of changing clime

Wars in desperate lands

We place ourselves in other’s hands

These are the strangest times

 

We’re looking for someone to lead

Out of this wilderness

Someone who knows to plant a seed

To guide us with finesse

 

The end of our democracy

We’re on the edge of falling

Welcome to autocracy!

The ghost of Hitler calling

 

We’re living in the strangest days

We hope we will survive

Too late to learn another way

The hard times have arrived

 

But no one will give up the fight

On that you can depend

We have a sense of wrong and right

We’ll fight until the end