Arresting Democracy (France)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

Arresting Democracy

 

What are we to make of the protests in France?

More of the same?

A familiar refrain?

Or something that cuts more deeply?

 

Macron has far too often turned

Too far to the right

Too eager to fight

On the side of the rich and privileged

 

He wants cuts in social spending

Spare those with wealth

Make cuts to health

The spirit of the French is ending

 

They are gathered on the streets again

To end the rule

To support the schools

They are tired of feeling betrayed

 

They are fighting with a brutal force

To stifle their voice

They have no choice

There must be law and order

 

But the people of France will have their say

They know their rights

They’re willing to fight

For France and the liberal way

 

Assassin's Bullet

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: VIOLENCE IN AMERICA

 

Assassin’s Bullet

 

We disagree on so many things

From defending Ukraine to building a wall

From whether angels really do have wings

To whom will be the next to fall

But we can agree on this one thing:

An assassin’s bullet is against us all

 

The powerful weapon that took him down *

Should never be allowed

Not on a safe and sacred ground

Nor a place with an assembled crowd

We wonder what the assassin found

That shamed or made him proud

That made his mind unsound

 

Whatever else can be said

That will move our hearts or stir our rage

A man who lived now is dead

He has left the living stage

He leaves behind the ones he loved

To suffer through this violent age

The soaring hawk, the lonesome dove

No more will he engage

 

* Charlie Kirk in Utah

 

Foot of the Mountains

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Foot of the Mountains

 

At the foot of the mountains

Where the river once was saved

Keep your silence and count ten

With one foot in the grave

 

I was running from nowhere

I was biding my own good time

I was holding my thoughts there

I was thinking thoughts in rhyme

 

There were clouds in a clear sky

I was riding on the waves

When a murder of crows came flying by

They were dealing in human slaves

 

Then a crash of floodwaters came

Like a booming river from hell

It was captured in the picture frame

I heard a ringing of the bells

 

At the foot of the mountains

Where once a preacher was slain

We drank from the mystic fountain

And the whole world went insane

 

Will we awaken before the end

Before it all goes out to sea

We can be certain it depends

On how long we let it be

 

Extrajudicial Killing

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE

 

Extrajudicial Killing

 

They announced a major victory

In the war against cartels

They killed eleven on the open sea

Then they rang the victory bell

 

Who among us would dare ask

Where is the evidence?

Were they wearing cartel masks?

Were their narco dollars spent?

 

Do we claim the right to kill

Without just and righteous cause?

Anyone we can and will

Without protection of the law?

 

You tell us they were terrorists

Importing killer drugs

Were their names on the terror list?

Are there photos of their mugs?

 

Is the law not for others?

Are you the ones who will decide?

Justice for one but not another?

Protections only for our side

 

This is a fundamental wrong

One that cannot be denied

It belies the weak, not strong

The day that justice lied

 

(US blows up a speedboat off the

coast of Venezuela.)

 

America the Free

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

America the Free

 

This is not the Philippines

Where Duterte had his reign

We know what independence means

We will not be restrained

 

This is not Beijing

Where they have an iron fist

Where freedom has no meaning

Where they keep an enemies list

 

This is not the Kremlin

Where Putin is their king

Where dissenters are imprisoned

Where elections are a sting

 

This is not Pyongyang

In service to dear leader

When Lady Liberty rang

They replied they didn’t need her

 

This is the land of liberty

America the free

Where individuality

Belongs to you and me

 

This is the land of light

No man above the law

Where fundamental rights

Are not considered flaws

 

Where everyone is free

To speak as they will speak

To be what they would be

To seek what they would seek