Buying our Democracy

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

Buying Democracy

 

Our democracy is endangered

By a court that has no pride

It has gone from strange to stranger

As the court finds its stride

 

One man gave a quarter billion

To take hold of the White House

Next time could bring a trillion

The threat is beyond doubt

 

But the court has no concern

They are tarred by the same cash

It’s the people who get burned

There’s no need to even ask

 

Corruption is institutionalized

With the blessings of the court

It is not right, just or wise

The invaders guarding the fort

 

Will we surrender our republic

Without raising a rebel cry?

Has the fog grown so thick

That we won’t even try?

 

A republic, old Ben Franklin said

But only if you can keep it

When our democracy is dead

Will we even seek it?

 

 

Contingencies

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Contingencies

 

What will Zelensky do

When Trump betrays Ukraine?

What will the continent do

When Russia makes it plain

That they will not stop the war

As long as Putin reigns

As long as there is more

To load on Russia’s train?

 

What will America do

When Europe does not fold?

What will China do

When Putin’s act grows old?

When the whole world realigns?

When democracies grow bold?

When India reads the signs?

 

What will the world do

When all are forced to choose?

Old ties or something new?

Who wins and who will lose?

When the people finally rise?

To claim their sovereign prize

And affirm their best allies? 

 

The Darkest Hour

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

The Darkest Hour

 

When given immoral dictums

You have a right to refrain

When the righteous are the victims

As they are in fair Ukraine

 

It seems America has abandoned

The democratic cause

With the Kremlin in tandem

We are down to last straws

 

We ask little of the aggressor

We demand much of Ukraine

A territorial divestiture

The resistance was in vain

 

But Ukraine is not alone

Europe will not turn its back

They will stand up for their own

Until the cause is back on track

 

We are in the darkest hours

It seems the walls are closing in

An alliance of dark powers

Let us pray they do not win

 

If the allies would prevail

In the defense of fair Ukraine

Before the path grows stale

We must endure greater pain

 

 

India and Russia

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: INDIA

 

Russia and India

 

When you’re in bed with a beast

A rank purveyor of war

Do not pretend you love peace

Your reputation is less than poor

 

Modi wants what Putin has

A stranglehold on power

He’ll play the game as long as

It is not the China hour

 

The man from Moscow plays it cool

Both sides against the middle

The American is his fool

But Modi is his fiddle

 

China’s Xi remains a mystery

In this strange triangulation

It will go down in modern history

The day that Modi sold his nation

 

For just a moment in the sun

With the planet’s greatest threat

By the time this deal is done

They will be buried in Russian debt

 

 

Putin's Shadow

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

Putin’s Shadow

 

In the shadow of aggression

All of Europe is on alert

History has taught a lesson

Pressing though it may hurt

 

Germany has raised the alarm

With incentives to build their forces

Although none would wish to harm

There are few alternative courses

 

The continent must be prepared

For whatever the beast has in mind

If captured in the monster’s lair

The world would be in a bind

 

Conscription is an unthinkable crime

Let us hope we’re not headed there

The road ahead is a difficult climb

Every nation must do its share

 

Denmark is drafting women

France is offering more

Finland expands its conscription

In preparation for a coming war

 

We pray for a world in peace

For an end to wars of all kinds

But the Kremlin is home to a beast

To that fact we cannot be blind