Tulsi Gabbard

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

Tulsi (Fox in the Henhouse)

 

The fox is guarding the henhouse

The hens are running scared

The cat has cornered the mouse

Betray her if you dare

 

She is on Putin’s payroll

We’ve long known it is so

She delivers Russian talking points

On all the rightwing shows

 

Now Tulsi holds the keys

To all our secrets and our plans

Our weapons and our strategies

And where we’ll make a stand

 

If that doesn’t give you pause

You’ve lost all sense of reason

What she will do despite our laws

Will tempt a charge of treason

 

I do hope that I am wrong

But I fear that I am right

She will sing a Russian song

And she will fight the Russian fight

 

(Tulsi Gabbard announced as

Trumps choice for Director of

National Intelligence.)

 

Oil on the Fire

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

Oil on the Fire

 

We all know who’s to blame

The cold aggressor in this war

North Koreans in the flames

You have brought them to the door

Now you want Ukraine to fold

You warn of consequence most dire

Because your enemies grow bold

You call it oil on the fire

 

Would you have them raise their hands?

Should they surrender to your might?

We all know what you have planned

Ukraine would vanish from our sight

 

You’ve put your bankroll on the table

Now you are counting on your friends

To fight as long as you are able

Before this horror finds an end

You’ll swear you never felt a threat

Though you have wallowed in the mire

The mighty Kremlin is in debt

You’ve poured oil on the fire

 

(Putin accuses the US of throwing

oil on the fire: ATACMS missiles.)

 

Putin's Gamble

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: PUTIN

Putin’s Gamble

 

What he could not accomplish

on the battlefields of Ukraine

He has accomplished on the

stage of American politics

 

Where he could not succeed

in France or the Netherlands

He has triumphed in the vast

open plains and the industrial

Midwest and the deep southern

forests of America

 

He gambled it all

on the wickedly flawed

American electoral laws

 

He gambled it all

on a conman from Queens

with his propaganda machine

 

The whole world will attest

Putin won the west

and with it he won Ukraine

 

The Air in Delhi

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

The Air in Delhi

 

They have closed the schools in Delhi

There is poison in the air

The smoke and dust of industry

Is more than anyone can bear

 

They are breathing fine particulates

That climb into their lungs

It is killing off their elders

It is poisoning their young

 

All this to serve the masses

To meet the world’s demands

The toxic air is spreading outward

From India to Pakistan

 

They know well it is not healthy

But they feel there is no choice

The people have a desperate need

Though they have a quiet voice

 

They breathe the air they’re given

They will sacrifice their health

Their growing numbers in cheap labor

Supply much of the nation’s wealth

 

Days of Change

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN HISTORY

 

 DAYS OF CHANGE

The assassinations of JFK, MLK & Bobby

Each event a nation mourned

Each event a hidden element celebrated

We wondered who benefited

Who struck a deal with the devil

Days of sorrow

Days of change

 

The killing of the kids at Kent State

The killings at Jackson State

Shit got real fast

We knew how they hated us

We did not know how much

Days of sorrow

Days of change

 

The resignation of LBJ

Now we knew we could bring change

We could stop an evil war

Bring peace to the killing fields

A new era of hope and wonder

That’s when they killed Bobby

Days of sorrow

Days of change

 

The resignation of Richard Nixon

The man who embraced China

The man who elevated dictators

The man who won 49 states

The man who hired burglars

And kept a long enemies list

Resigned in disgrace

Days of wonder

Days of change

 

The morning the twin towers fell

An act of unconscionable violence

The death of thousands

A declaration of vengeance

The global war on terror

Iraq and Afghanistan

Days of sorrow

Days of change

 

The reelection of Donald Trump…

Jack Random is the author of eight novels (including Pawns to Players and Wasichu), three collections of short stories, two volumes of plays, ten volumes of political essays (Jazzman Chronicles) and six books of poetry (including Life Songs and Lost in Her Soul).  His most recent works are Poemics Americana and Poemics International (Crow Dog Press).