We Will Get By

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DEMOCRACY

 

We Will Get By

 

You have to believe we will get by

You have to believe

That democracy will prevail

When all is said …

The autocrats, the dictators, the wannabes,

The hustlers, the con men, the promise

You everything wise guys...

They’re all lies

You have to believe the people

Will see through them

 

The trouble is there are so many of them

They come in all forms and colors

They wear fancy clothes and wry grins

They drive Tesla’s and Cadillac Seville’s

They bring you sparkling gifts

But their gold is pyrite

Their magic is a conjuring spell

Their promise is an empty shell

 

There is only one truth

She is not fancy

She has no bells and whistles

She is not the belle of the ball

But she is steady and persistent

She is the stronger tenfold

And democracy is her friend

And democracy we’ll defend

 

We will get by

 

(re: Grateful Dead’s A Touch of Grey)

 

The Fourth

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN HISTORY

 

The Fourth

 

Two and a half centuries ago

We declared our independence

Mad King George felt the blow

And sang a long lament

 

No longer would we serve

A master far away

We took what we deserved

Our Independence Day

 

Our founders were the best

In mind, heart and soul

Old Ben Franklin and the rest

They kept the union whole

 

We thank them to this day

Though their faults are very clear

Their light would shine the way

Through many troubled years

 

This day we remember them

And the nation they envisioned

A circle of enlightened men

Who made a hard decision

 

They created a democracy

The first in the modern age

They defeated an autocracy

And sparked a monarch’s rage

 

Today the kings are figureheads

The queens do not hold sway

We’ve followed where the founders led

It’s Independence Day

 

(Happy Fourth of July!!!)

 

Nullification

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: SUPREME COURT

 

Nullification

 

Never did I think I’d see

A Supreme Court so bold and brash

As to nullify the basic precepts

Of the constitution

 

Birthright citizenship

Is not a controversial issue

It is as basic as free speech

As fundamental as the right to vote

As essential as the fourth estate

 

But this court does not believe

In any of these basic rights

This court has granted citizenship

To private corporations

This court has poisoned the very

Heart of democracy with unlimited

Corporate contributions

 

If you were born in this country

Regardless of your race, religion,

Country of origin, monetary status

Or political philosophy

No contingencies or qualifications

You are a citizen and no amount

Of verbal gymnastics can alter

That inalienable fact

 

Beyond birthright citizenship

We now have a Supreme Court

And a chief executive dedicated to

Destroying the foundations of

Democracy in America

 

All Americans should raise their

Voices as one to cry out in unison:

No!

 

Zohran Mamdani

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

 

Zohran Mamdani

 

The plight of the true progressive

Is that s/he is supposed to lose

Though we may become obsessive

In the end we’ll sing the blues

 

To the people of New York City

His message is heaven sent

He’s as smart as he is witty

He pledges to freeze the rent

 

We are all in this together

We’re the same in basic needs

We’re birds of the same feather

We reject the policies of greed

 

He makes no pledge to the wealthy

In fact he’ll make them pay

But he’ll work to make us healthy

Because there is another way

 

Though the days aren’t always sunny

For the man who lives in Queens

He won’t take their dirty money

But he’ll win by honest means

 

(Democratic Socialist defeats Cuomo

as Dem candidate for NYC mayor.)

 

Immigration Gestapo

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IMMIGRATION

  

Immigration Gestapo

 

The émigré gestapo is coming

To spread terror in your town

Factory workers start running

Before you’re beaten to the ground

 

They don’t care about your rights

Your rights expired yesterday

They’re more than ready for a fight

Your people do not have a say

 

You are something less than human

So our president has decreed

His gestapo friends are fuming

They would love to see you bleed

 

Towns and cities across the land

Get prepared to be invaded

Unless you want to make a stand

The light of liberty has faded

 

It seems our nation’s gone astray

Our doors and gates are locked

The new gestapo is here to stay

The road to freedom has been blocked

 

Rights on Hold

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

Rights on Hold

 

When rights are suspended for others

We sacrifice much of our own

What we do to one another

Must one day be atoned

 

When our rights are placed on hold

When the guarantee is lost

It means our rights can be sold

By any cruel and ruthless boss

 

We have placed our fate in hands

That never should be trusted

It’s too late to understand

When all your friends are busted

 

So you thought it was just the others

The ones with darker skin

Then they came for your brothers

And your rationale grew thin

 

Now you’re running with the rest of us

And you regret those things you did

Now you’re in the back of the bus

With the servants and their kids

 

 

The Insurrection Act

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: INSURRECTION

 

The Insurrection Act

 

What despicable irony

That the leading insurrectionist

Should summon the Insurrection Act

To release the military hounds

The few, the proud, the Marines

To fight back their own people

To suppress a lawful assembly

To oppress a peaceful gathering

Within the confines of our nation

 

This is not an insurrection

It’s a plain and simple fact

We have gone the wrong direction

We are on a vicious track

 

We remember insurrection

It was not so long ago

You cried out for insurrection

Then you said it wasn’t so

 

You pardoned all your followers

For breaking down the walls

For pushing through the barriers

For answering your call

 

For provoking mass disorder

For striking fear in all

For following your orders

Put ‘em up against the wall!

 

Now you call the soldiers in

A ruthless show of force

This is where it all begins

Our democracy off course

 

 

Son of Nixon

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DEMOCRACY

 

Son of Nixon

 

I am not a crook he said

Yet it ended in disgrace

Take another look he said

My time was out of place

 

Had I the votes today he says

The courts would bow before me

I’d always get my way he says

The senate would restore me

 

I worked with Chairman Mao

I worked with Brezhnev too

If I was president now

I’ll tell you what I’d do

 

I’d take control of everything

All branches at my call

Declare myself the people’s king

My house would never fall

 

As for the curse of Watergate

It would not have come to light

The false news and the deep state

It’s all a pack of lies

Bipartisan Failure

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

Bipartisan Failure

 

The Republicans were the party of wealth

A plain and simple story

They played the Christian cards

Abortion, sanctity of marriage

God hates the homosexuals

They took the corporate money

And praised Jesus to the bank

They threw the door wide open

For a populist without conviction

 

The Democrats were the party of pretend

They took the corporate funding and

Pretended to represent the working class

They compromised on healthcare

Allowing insurance companies to

Rob, hustle and con the people

They offered symbols of oppression

Minorities and women

While doing little to improve their lot

They too opened the doors of change

Any change would do

So he grabbed the opportunity and

Walked right through

 

Both parties share the blame

For neglecting the people’s interests

Both choices seemed the same

The MAGA’s a little less

 

Rights of All

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DEMOCRACY

 

Rights of All

 

Our rights are not a property

They can’t be bought or sold

I’ll claim them as a part of me

Until the heavens fold

 

Those rights belong to everyone

Who lives on planet earth

Until the setting of the sun

By virtue of their birth

 

The age of freedom will not end

By anyone’s decree

No matter what you may intend

We will not bend the knee

 

Our students have a right to speak

Without intimidation

Rich or poor, strong or weak

In a democratic nation

 

You want us to be silent now

No protests, no resistance

But some things we do not know how

Our freedom is insistent

 

The Honorable Senator

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

The Honorable Senator

 

The good and honorable senator

From the great state of New Jersey

Stood for hours against our president

And he showed him little mercy

 

Have you no sense of shame, sir?

Have you no dignity or pride?

Your government is lame, sir

Greed and power are your guides

 

I will speak until tomorrow

I will stand up proud and tall

I will speak of people’s sorrow

I will stand until I fall

 

For you, sir, are the enemy

Of all that we hold dear

Our freedom and democracy

You’ve made yourself too clear

 

This may not bring an end to you

But this message you’ll receive

That we are not a friend to you

And we will never be

 

(Cory Booker breaks the record

holding the floor of the Senate for

over 25 hours.)

Following Orders

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP DAZE

 

Following Orders

 

All of you who follow orders

Who only do as you are told

Who walk the edge of evil’s border

Who pretend you haven’t sold your soul

 

If you live with rats you become a rat

If you run with weasels you are a weasel

If you hang with cats you become a cat

If you serve evil you become evil

 

It may take a little while

It may not happen overnight

You’re just keeping the master’s files

Soon you don’t know wrong from right

 

If what you do offends you

Take a look around the bend

If your own people won’t defend you

You are serving evil men

 

But you’re just following orders

Someone else would do the same

It’s the curse of moral disorders

The inability to feel shame

Defiance

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RESISTANCE

 

Defiance

 

When they come for you with shackles

Do not go quietly

Defy!

 

When they come for your neighbor

Do not stand by

Defy!

 

When they come for your reporters

Stand up for them

Defy!

 

When they come for your representative

Demand to know why

 

When they fire all the rangers

Refuse to comply

 

When they take away your rights

Raise the rebel cry

 

When they take away your vote

Get angry

Defy!

The Brute Society

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

 

The Brute Society

 

LBJ gave us the Great Society

(with the exception of Vietnam)

Now we’re filled with great anxiety

(we’ll do the best we can)

 

It’s the heartless Brute Society

They’re the ones who do not care

An endless wave of improprieties

We are captured in their lair

 

They don’t care about our elders

They don’t care about our poor

They’ll defund the homeless shelters

They’re all heartless to the core

 

They will cut and slash for others

While they all enrich themselves

No more aide for single mothers

Tell them all to go to hell

 

It’s the age of cold brutality

They’re all laughing to the bank

If you don’t like this reality

You will have to thank yourselves

 

Streets of Protest

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

Streets of Protest

 

The streets of protest are alive

We march to show we care

For democracy we strive

Our cause is everywhere

 

On the streets of Palestine

For those who disagree

Who refuse to toe the line

Who will not bend the knee

 

For the people of Ukraine

Whose freedom is at stake

For those who are restrained

For the laws they did not break

 

For those who lost their jobs

And those who are in need

For the large, angry mobs

Who are tired of greed

 

For the ones who live in fear

Of the troubled times ahead

For the moms who shed a tear

At the cost of gas and bread

 

We’re on the streets again

For those who have no voice

This time we will win

We demand a better choice

Dear Mexico (The Master to His Hound)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

Dear Mexico

 

Dear citizens of Mexico

We owe you an apology

Please take it in and let it go

A cold and cruel psychology

 

He doesn’t want your land

He only wants your oil

There’s too much rock and sand

To take a profit from you soil

 

He wants you to bow down

To his majesty supreme

All promises unwound

He saw it in a dream

 

If you want to win his favor

Just play a little ball

He’ll be the great enslaver

You’ll help him build his wall

 

When Mexico is good again

He’ll tear the great wall down

Then we will be the best of friends

The master to his hound

 

Surrounded by Sycophants

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP DAZE

 

Surrounded by Sycophants

 

You surround yourself with sycophants

And wonder how it went wrong

No one who dares to say you can’t

They all sing the same old song

 

Don’t you wish you had your father

To tell you what to do?

No sycophants will bother

To set it straight but it’s true

 

Every day you tell yourself

You are doing what is right

And every day they bathe you

In the glory of false light

 

But deep within the truth reveals

A frightened little man

Who thinks his very word can heal

But he fails to understand

 

When you’re surrounded by sycophants

You will never hear the truth

You may think you’re Honest Abe

But you’re really John Wilkes Booth

 

The Secret State

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

 

The Secret State

 

You put him in power

To get rid of the fat

The useless abusers

Not the harmless bureaucrats

They said they would rid you

Of the secret, deep state

The unelected elites

That control the nation’s fate

 

Now look who’s in charge

Every minute and hour

They’ve taken up residence

In the executive tower

They make the decisions

They pull all the strings

They sound the alarms

Just to see if they ring

We had no deep state

But now that we do

They’ll tear down democracy

The joke is on you

 

Social Security?

Medicare and Medicaid?

Just wait til you see

The plans that they’ve laid

Environmental protection?

Who cares about that?

Get rid of it all

They’ll just call it fat

Educating the poor?

The ones who can’t pay

Throw it out with the trash

And call it a day

Freedom of speech?

The right to exist?

They’ll answer to that

With a hammer and fist

 

Is this what you wanted?

Nobody cares

In the politics of war

Everything’s fair