Netanyahu: Without Restraint

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL & GAZA

Netanyahu: Without Restraint

 

Bombing without restrictions

Killing without restraint

Killing journalists and children

They will hear no complaints

 

Gaza is in tatters

Lebanon is bombed to shreds

Netanyahu does not care

How many families are dead

 

There’s a new sheriff coming

He will arrive in several weeks

Kill as many as you can

You can’t be seen as weak

 

They are killing throughout Syria

Beirut is laid to waste

Any chance of finding peace

Will be lost in Israel’s haste

 

To slaughter all their enemies

To alienate their friends

To kill with full abandon

Before the war can end

Remember Me

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

Remember Me

 

Remember me when the stars fall

From a sky of floating ash

Remember those who warned you

The end was coming fast

 

I know there is no comfort

In seeing past the bend

Where all is dread and dreary

Where darkness never ends

 

But do not fear or worry

There is little we can do

The die is cast in sorrow

The debt is coming due

 

Embrace your friends and family

As if it’s Christmas Eve

Their love will guide and warm you

When it’s time to mourn and grieve

 

When my time comes remember

I was one who saw it clear

The hard times and the warming

The end time drawing near

 

But hope will not abandon

For every end brings a new start

A vision of a better world

When this world falls apart

 

Spirits of Christmas

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Spirits of Christmas

 

The spirit of Christmas is giving

We celebrate with revelry

As long as we are living

We will decorate our tree

 

Unless of course we’re homeless

Or destitute and poor

Cursed with desperate loneliness

Then Christmas is no more

 

A holiday of majesty

A time of grace and cheer

Good fortune turns to tragedy

Our wonders turn to fear

 

So let us all be grateful

For the bounty we can share

As we enjoy our plateful

Let all know that we care

 

For the spirits are alive

Every day and every year

The giving spirit thrives

In all that we hold dear

 

Clemency (for Leonard Peltier)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE

Clemency (for Leonard Peltier)

 

Half a century behind bars

For crimes he did not commit

Fifty years proclaiming injustice

Five decades of taking the hit

For the crime of not being sorry

That the FBI agents were dead

For surviving the deadly shootout

That the FBI agents led

 

Way back in the year of seventy-three

On the Pine Ridge Reservation

At a place called Wounded Knee

In the heart of the Oglala nation

The American Indian Movement

Planted a staff and laid their claim

To justice the Indian way

 

For seventy* days they held their ground

Seventy days to the nation’s shame

Two warriors of AIM lost their lives

Though few can remember their names**

They remember the name of Leonard Peltier

For he alone took the blame

For the shooting of agents Coler and Williams

For the killing of both the same

 

Peltier was not at Wounded Knee

But he was chosen to pay the price

A person of native bloodline

Had to make that sacrifice

 

There is no justice in America

As long as Leonard Peltier is held

For the crimes of someone unknown

Half a century spent in hell

 

* seventy-one

** Frank Clearwater & Buddy Lamont

Friends and Enemies

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: SYRIA

Friends and Enemies (for Syria)

 

A friend becomes an enemy

An enemy becomes a friend

When circumstances dictate

Past problems we will mend

 

The world is a chess board

In which the pieces are exchanged

What once seemed so familiar

Now seems extremely strange

 

Whose side are you on boys?

On which side do you stand?

You stood with us today boys

Tomorrow you’ll disband

 

We’re sorry for the missiles

We’re sorry for the bombs

We’re sorry for mistaking

Which side you were on

 

Back then you fought for terror

We fought to free the land

We found it was in error

But now we understand

 

Our friends become our enemies

Enemies become our friends

If it never really matters

What message do we send?

 

Democracy in Syria

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

Democracy in Syria

 

We hold our breath and wait

To see what happens next

There is a promise of freedom

There is hope and good cheer

The people gather in the streets

Where they cautiously proceed

Who will grasp the reigns?

Who will seize the power?

Will they use it in good will?

Or will they build a taller tower?

 

We pray for better days

We pray for peace and prosperity

We hope they pave the way

To a thriving new democracy

And yes we have our doubts

We have seen this act before

The best intended efforts

Have been lost to civil war