Rewarding Aggression

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

Rewarding Aggression (Ukraine)

 

A brutal legacy of destruction

The invasion of Ukraine

We demand its reconstruction

Reparations in the main

 

You cannot reward aggression

If you want a world of peace

The time has come for this lesson

The brutality must cease

 

All of Europe is united

They have frozen Russian funds

This wrong cannot be righted

Without depleting Russian guns

 

So many lives have been lost

We all know who’s to blame

The one and only Kremlin boss

Whose lasting mark is shame

 

Take away all his wealth

Strip him of his power

He has claimed it all by stealth

Make him face his final hour

 

Let him roam the barren earth

A man who walks alone

Let his home be built of dirt

Let his comfort be his groans

 

Pity the Poor (On Thanksgiving)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POVERTY

 

Pity the Poor

 

Pity the man who has no bread

Pity the child who is not fed

Pity the stranger against the wall

Have pity for us one and all

 

We live our lives in desperation

Never knowing what it’s for

The poor within a wealthy nation

Pounding at the rich man’s door

 

We are the homeless in the city

We’ve lost our families long ago

We live on kindness and on pity

We’ve suffered every kind of blow

 

We rise up each and every day

We do what we must do

Try to find a place to stay

Before the day is through

 

Pity the poor who have no say

Pity the one who feels the pain

Pity the ones who’ve gone astray

Pity the ones who feel the strain

 

We don’t want your pity

We want a helping hand

We live in every town and city

We’d like you all to understand

 

 

Thank You

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: THANKSGIVING

 

Thank You

 

What do you say or do

When the beauty of life overwhelms you

When everyone you see and hear

is a walking, talking miracle

When every force of nature rolls

over you like the waves of seven seas

When the sky seems to open up

and smiles to let you in

When every stranger on the street

seems like a long-lost friend

When every turn and every bend

brings another word of comfort

When all the people you’ve ever known

show up to shake your hand

When every new day is a promise

and every day gone by is a gift

When every playground is filled with laughter

and all the houses are filled with joy

What do you say or do except

to say thank you

from the depths of my soul

 

(On Thanksgiving Day)

 

The History of Me

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: THANKSGIVING

 

History of Me

 

We made our way across the sea

Way back in 1493

At Plymouth Rock we planted seeds

That’s the history of me

 

We were cold and we were hungry

The natives gave us aide

They answered to our desperate plea

We bowed our heads and prayed

 

We founded thirteen colonies

The British tried to tax our tea

Our people said no thank you please

That’s the history of me

 

A hundred years we traveled west

We settled in the rolling hills

We thought to stay and have a rest

The buffalo were killed

 

We did what we were led to do

We were a different breed

We always wanted something new

That’s the history of me

 

A thousand years of slavery

A long and bloody civil war

Tales of death and bravery

The reaper at the door

 

The dust bowl pushed us out again

Until we reached the other sea

Degraded everywhere we’d been

That’s the history of me

 

We’re proud and we’re determined

To leave a better legacy

We tired of the sermon

That’s the history of me

 

(Happy Thanksgiving Eve!)

 

A Hero in Chicago

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POLICE STATE

 

Marimar Martinez

 

Shot down like a rabid dog

On a rampage in Chicago

When they finally cleared the fog

The facts were clearly known

 

She sounded an alarm

To the folks in her community

They meant to do her harm

To break Chicago’s unity

 

But cameras showed the story

The border agent lied

They stripped him of his glory

He’s lucky no one died

 

He tried to take her life

For standing up to her convictions

You could cut it with a knife

The tension and suspicions

 

You are not wanted here

Go back to where you came from

You are only spreading fear

Like the pounding of a war drum

 

Marimar is a hero

A bold and shining light

A light that ever grows

A force for good and right

Congo Mining Disaster

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Congo Mining Disaster

 

Desperation breeds carelessness

Carelessness yields death

The Congo is a wilderness

Where the people hold their breath

 

A hundred people died today

In a crudely dug gold mine

The Congolese have little say

They’re stuck with what they find

 

A nation torn in civil war

Devoid of law and order

Arms are given to the poor

To defend a crooked border

 

The people live in poverty

They have no honest choice

They lack a true democracy

They have no honest voice

 

Violence is their only means

Of getting what they need

Poverty is what they’ve seen

A land of corporate greed

 

So miners go beneath the ground

To dig for precious gold

The mines are neither strong nor sound

In time they will not hold

 

A hundred people die today

A hundred more tomorrow

Until there is another way

The Congo lives in sorrow