Sedition in Hong Kong

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Sedition in Hong Kong

 

Sedition in Hong Kong

Is daring to act like a journalist

 

Sedition in Hong Kong

Is daring to criticize Beijing

 

Once there was hope of freedom

Freedom of speech

Freedom of assembly

Freedom to march the streets in protest

Freedom to publish your views

 

That hope was brutally attacked

By the officers of oppression

 

Now they jail journalists

Now they serve warning to all

Who would ever dare oppose them

 

They don’t know the history of resistance

They don’t know the power of the people

It may take a decade of resistance

It may take a century of defiance

But the people will not forget

The people will not give in

They will find a way forward

They will find the path to freedom

They will march toward democracy

Step by step, year after year

Decade after decade

Until at last they prevail

 

(Stand News editors Chung Pui-kuen

and Patrick Lam sentence to prison.)

 

The Choice (Abortion)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Choice (Abortion)

 

He engineered the change

That struck down Roe V. Wade

But never mind he didn’t mean it

He’s all pro-choice today

 

He sang a different tune

Not so very long ago

He must have lived on the moon

Please say it isn’t so

 

The choice goes to the states

On that (he says) we all agreed

But hold on here and wait!

That no one wants or needs

 

Every woman should have a right

No matter where she lives

That’s like turning day to night

It’s not your right to give

 

You may say you’re not to blame

But we all know that it’s true

The court did it in your name

So the blame must fall on you

 

No Words

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

No Words

 

Masha has no father, no family

She has no words for Vladimir Putin

She is from Kiev

To be from Kiev is to know sorrow

The sorrow of losing loved ones

The sorrow of losing one’s home

The sorrow of losing a life

She has no words for Vladimir Putin

She has only hatred

 

The war drags on like a stubborn storm

Like an illness that won’t go away

An aching throbbing persistent pain

A disease of the heart and soul

Like a never-ending rain

 

We have no words for Vladimir Putin

He has no heart for us

He has no care for human suffering

He has only his ambition

He feels nothing for anyone but his self

 

If the world is to find a way forward

We must move forward without him

He is a growth that must be removed

He is the heart of all our sorrow

We have no more words for him

Only hate

Only pity

Only sorrow

Corporate Healthcare

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

Corporate Healthcare

 

Corporations have a place

(at the moment I’m not sure where)

But it is certain on its face

That it’s not in medical care

 

When profit is your motive

You are bound to come up short

Your only interest then becomes

Staying out of court

 

How many people die

Because they didn’t have the care

The nurses and the doctors

To protect the corporate share?

 

Let them dominate the markets

Let them buy the corporate chains

But when it comes to hospitals

The profit motive is insane

 

The people know by instinct

When we need a helping hand

The last place we would turn to

Wears a corporate brand

 

As Election Day Draws Near

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Election Day (Clear Choice)

 

If you believe in a right to choose

The choice is absolutely clear

Down the line your vote is blue

As election day draws near

 

If you believe in a free Ukraine

An untethered Putin you should fear

The truth is absolutely plain

As election day draws near

 

If you want to end the Gaza war

If the genocide draws your tears

There’s only one way to close that door

As election day draws near

 

If you favor our democracy

If the founders you hold dear

If you don’t want an autocracy

The choice is very clear

 

If you believe in labor rights

Your choice is very clear

Who stands beside you in your fight

As election day draws near?

 

If you fear the planet’s warming

As the phony naysayers jeer

If you find the giant storms alarming

Your choice is beyond clear

 

Come November 5: Vote!