Netanyahu Stands Alone

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

 

Netanyahu Stands Alone

 

Woe be unto Israel

Leave this man at home

You need not be his keeper

Netanyahu stands alone

 

The harm that he has done

The people must atone

Woe be unto Israel

Netanyahu stands alone

 

Vengeance is his mission

A bomb for every stone

Sewing hard divisions

Netanyahu stands alone

 

The death toll rises every day

Mournful mothers moan

Searching for another way

Netanyahu stands alone

 

So many dead and buried

Piles of flesh and bones

The burden you must carry

Netanyahu stands alone

 

(Netanyahu comes to the UN.)

 

Last Best Stand

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

Last Best Stand

 

We don’t know what the future holds

We’ll do the best we can

Be strong, my friend, be true, be bold

For this may be the last best stand

 

The warning bells have sounded now

We’re sound in our positions

We’re dreamers yet we’re grounded now

We’re poets and magicians

 

We’re called upon to hold our ground

It’s a battle set in stone

We’re sworn to never let you down

Though we may stand alone

 

This is the path we’re given

Though we want to cause no harm

We’re desperate and we’re driven

But they are better armed

 

They have their money and their guns

We have what we can carry

Until the battle’s lost or won

On this ground we’ll be buried

 

The Great Extortionist

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: FREE SPEECH

 

The Great Extortionist

 

The corporate world has taken its stand

To oblige the wannabe dictator

Now it’s up to every woman and man

To put them through the grater

 

CBS fired their late-night host

At the urging of our president

A shot heard loud from coast to coast

We knew exactly what it meant

 

ABC was quick to can their man

On the shallow side of pretense

They’re sure that we will understand

The bottom line is their defense

 

Now B & J is going down

Yielding to the rightwing pressure

Soon there will be none around

For our entertainment pleasure

 

This is how our grand republic ends

With a constant push and shove

On the next election we’ll depend

With some help from the stars above

 

(Jimmy Kimmel fired and reinstated.)

 

Provocation

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RUSSIA

 

Provocation

 

He is the neighborhood bully

Poking your friend in the chest

If we could understand it fully

It is a provocation to the west

 

Drones over Europe

Fighter jets in NATO airspace

A strategy of drip drip drip

Putting NATO in its place

 

It is a reckless game

That only Putin would engage

But it is more of the same

From the man on center stage

 

Will he stimulate defiance?

Another war, an arms race?

Will he weaken the alliance?

Will he back down with grace?

 

In the days and years ahead

He will put us to the test

It could be a world of dread

Unless we unify the west

 

Remember the Fallen

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: VIOLENCE

 

Remember the Fallen

 

We lament the killing of Charlie Kirk *

As we mourn Melissa Hortman **

Both were killed for political work

By a crazed individual assassin

 

One is no greater than the other

No lesser by any means

One was a sister, the other a brother

And both were human beings

 

Both were martyred to their cause

Remember them for who they were

Despite whatever human flaws

This fate they did not deserve

 

There is far too much hatred and rage

In this world of growing extremes

We are entering a desperate violent age

We should grasp just what that means

 

High powered weapons in dangerous hands

Are a problem we all must address

Take a vow to do whatever you can

To make these dangers less

 

And lower the volume of discontent

Accept that we can disagree

Interpret kindly what others meant

Try not to plant the seed

 

*   assassinated in Utah

** assassinated in Minnesota