The Hand of Vengeance

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Hand of Vengeance

 

Kash Patel is the hand of vengeance

J. Edgar Hoover reincarnate

He will serve at the president’s pleasure

Wo to those who arouse his hate

 

He has sworn to have his vengeance

Against all and every enemy of state

Members of the opposing parties

Journalists for Politico and Slate

 

J. Edgar was an American disgrace

Subversion was within his powers

His enemies vanished without a trace

It was our nation’s darkest hours

 

Patel is cast from the same mold

His reach extends far and wide

His gaze is dark and his hand is cold

He will stand at the president’s side

 

The people must rise to answer back

To safeguard our Bill of Rights

Our republic is coming under attack

We will never give up the fight

 

(Patel to be named FBI Director)

Heartless

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IMMIGRATION

Heartless

 

How do you tell a child

This world no longer wants you?

How do you tell a child

You must leave your home?

 

Millions of mothers and fathers

Aunts, uncles and grandparents

Must now have that conversation

To prepare for the uncertainty

Of the days that lie ahead

 

Juanita, you are not welcome here

Jose, it is time to go

Your friends are not your friends

Your teachers will not protect you

The police are now your enemies

They will take you from your home

They will place you in a cage

They will make you feel alone

Your family is your only refuge

There is no one else

It is time to go

 

Yesterday is yesterday

Say goodbye to all you know

All that was is no longer

What remains is a lonely road

 

Days of Change

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN HISTORY

 

 DAYS OF CHANGE

The assassinations of JFK, MLK & Bobby

Each event a nation mourned

Each event a hidden element celebrated

We wondered who benefited

Who struck a deal with the devil

Days of sorrow

Days of change

 

The killing of the kids at Kent State

The killings at Jackson State

Shit got real fast

We knew how they hated us

We did not know how much

Days of sorrow

Days of change

 

The resignation of LBJ

Now we knew we could bring change

We could stop an evil war

Bring peace to the killing fields

A new era of hope and wonder

That’s when they killed Bobby

Days of sorrow

Days of change

 

The resignation of Richard Nixon

The man who embraced China

The man who elevated dictators

The man who won 49 states

The man who hired burglars

And kept a long enemies list

Resigned in disgrace

Days of wonder

Days of change

 

The morning the twin towers fell

An act of unconscionable violence

The death of thousands

A declaration of vengeance

The global war on terror

Iraq and Afghanistan

Days of sorrow

Days of change

 

The reelection of Donald Trump…

Jack Random is the author of eight novels (including Pawns to Players and Wasichu), three collections of short stories, two volumes of plays, ten volumes of political essays (Jazzman Chronicles) and six books of poetry (including Life Songs and Lost in Her Soul).  His most recent works are Poemics Americana and Poemics International (Crow Dog Press).

The Fix

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Fix

 

The fix is in

Only it ain’t the Democrats

Say what you will

Democrats don’t fix elections

Republicans do

Trump Republicans are committed to it

They’ve dedicated time and resources

To taking over local election boards

It’s always the one who cries foul the loudest

Who is most guilty of the crime

 

Three months before hand

We know what’s coming

Trump Republicans will claim victory

Regardless of the vote count

Their operatives will refuse to certify results

Trump wants the win

He wants his vindication

He wants his vengeance

He wants his retribution

Even more than victory at the polls

 

He wants a civil war

He wants to take the White House by force

He wants his minions to do it for him

You say you don’t believe me?

Wait three months and see

Or take action now to make sure

It doesn’t happen

 

Manchurian Candidate

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Manchurian Candidate

 

“I don’t really care what happens to

Ukraine.”  J.D. Vance

 

The man has no backbone

No conviction or restraint

In his grand quest for power

A man of principle he ain’t

 

He once stood for justice

And the American way

But the man he once was

Is not the man he is today

 

He has sold his very soul

For a chance at that ring

He would eat a lump of coal

He would do anything

 

He would kiss the man’s boot

If there is something to gain

It took him less than a second

To sacrifice Ukraine

 

He will bow to the Don

The Don bows to the Vlad

As for our democracy

The prognosis is bad

 

American King

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

American King

 

He can do anything he wants to do

He can lock her up

He can make lies true

He’s the master and we’re the slaves

He could have his name engraved

On the Statue of Liberty

On the Emancipation Proclamation

On the constitution of the nation

 

America! Of thee I sing!

All hail the American King!

 

I never thought I’d see the day

When we’d sacrifice our rights

When we’d throw it all away

And sail into an endless night

We’ve place him on a throne

So now we stand alone

We pray for his benevolence

For we’ve lost our independence

 

America! Of thee I sing!

All hail the American King!

 

The Love Letters

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Love Letters

 

Remember those charming love letters

That our (former) president loved so much

Written with boundless affection

With a gentle and giving touch

 

All of you who have spoken ill

Of the man in the Oval Office

Who have blasted your obscenities

From the beds of moving trucks

If we lived under Kim Jong-un

You would find yourself imprisoned

Incapacitated or worse

Condemned to reeducation

Under the cloud of the leader’s curse

 

Remember the brotherly romance

Of our then president and the Vlad

The animosity that we showed him

Made our leader extremely sad

 

All of you who have expressed doubts

About the sanctity of our elections

If we lived under Putin’s rule

Your votes would be cast out

You children would be sent to fight

For the conquest of Ukraine

Your freedom would be compromised

Beyond all recognition

You would find yourself against a wall

In a compromised position

 

Be grateful for what we have

Be careful not to lose it

If democracy is not your bag

We can end it if you choose it

 

America Found

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

America Found (the Awakening)

 

We have lost our way before

We are not a perfect nation

We regarded the protectors of the land

As something less than human

As beasts to be exterminated

Or tamed and put in cages

It took centuries to awaken

To know the error of our ways

But we have awakened

To set forth a better day

 

We enslaved generations of blacks

We denied their basic humanity

We put them in chains

When they demanded their freedom

We hunted them down like rabid dogs

We whipped and hobbled them

We killed and raped them

It took centuries to awaken

To accept the truth that we betrayed

But we have awakened

To a more enlightened way

 

We have fought unprovoked wars

Unjust wars of mass destruction

We have followed poor leaders

We have embraced corporate greed

We have turned the clock backwards

We have stripped away rights

We have sanctioned child labor

We have done evil things

In our God’s holy name

But we have always awakened

In the spirit of righteous shame

 

Trump on Trial

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Trump on Trial

 

Mister Trump is on trial

For the very least of his crimes

Hush money for a porn star

Out of sight, out of mind

 

He defrauded the nation

He flat out lied to us all

But hush money for sex

Could be his downfall

 

What about insurrection?

I hear some of you say

What about Russia?

What about pay-to-play?

 

All of that may be true

But we push it all away

It is all about sex

How much did he pay?

 

Some day we may know

The full scope of his crimes

But that day must wait

It’s a very long line

 

Remember Kent State

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN HISTORY

Remember Kent State

 

Back in the year 1970

(most of you don’t remember)

The National Guard in the state of Ohio

Shot four students dead

They were not violent

They were not breaking the law

They were shot dead for being there

Shot dead for caring

Shot dead for the war machine

In Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam

 

We knew they hated us

We didn’t know they’d kill us

After Kent State we knew

We’d never forget the bloodstained path

The tears of innocence

The end of an era of hope

 

More than any other event of the decade

Kent State divided the nation

Kent State burned itself into our psyche

It spawned a generation of distrust

A distrust of government and authority

Passed down the years to today

 

If you love this nation

If you love its principles and ideals

If you want America to endure

Then remember Kent State

Remember Jackson State

Remember the age of protest

Remember the disenchantment

And make sure it never happens again

The Nixon Rule

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE

The Nixon Rule

 

“When the president does it, that means

it is not illegal.” Richard Nixon

 

Are we prepared for what follows?

 

If the president is granted blanket immunity

for official acts even beyond his term as

president, what is to stop the next president

from purging the body politic of enemies and

adversaries alike?

 

If the next president is the man of Mar-a-Lago,

the purge will be immediate and revenge

will be ruthless.

 

The Department of Justice will be the president’s

personal hit squad, formulating a hit list and

taking all who oppose him out by all means

necessary, legal and illegal.

 

The Proud Boys could be deputized to the

dirty work of punishing demonstrators and

standing guard over voting precincts.

 

Truth Social could be declared the official

state media and all other media could be

sued out of existence by draconian bans on

slandering our dear leader.

 

There is no end to the damage our dear

leader could do to our democracy.

 

It is easy to lose democracy.

It is hard to get it back. 

 

Foundations of Law

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE

Foundations of Law

 

Justice is the foundation of law

If it is not the law becomes tyranny

Or rather an instrument of tyranny

Belonging to a tyrant

 

When the Supreme Court entertains

the notion of assassination for political

purpose as legal and beyond reproach

we are in grave danger

 

The attorneys for the United States are

too modest in their questioning

They should ask: if the president believes

in his heart and soul that certain justices

of the Supreme Court pose an imminent and

existential threat to American democracy

and the rule of law, could he order their

assassination as an official act without fear

of legal recourse?

 

Case closed.