The Next Phase (Resistance)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DEMOCRACY

The Next Phase (Resist)

 

We approach a turning point

A transition in the struggle

An acceleration in our efforts

Or a fundamental change

A continuation of the battle

Or the start of a new phase

 

What applies in America

Applies equally in Ukraine

As we await the election

We prepare for a change

If it is not as we have hoped

If the unthinkable comes to pass

We begin the resistance

A phase that will last

 

In the battle for democracy

We will take it to the streets

If they strike us down like cattle

We will march to a different beat

We will march in silent protest

We will refuse to move on

We will test the limits of their brutality

We will fold back if necessary

Into the shadows of resistance

And we will resist

 

In the battle for Ukraine

If the unthinkable comes to pass

The Russians and their allies

Become the hated occupiers

Ukraine becomes the resistance

How long can the occupation hold?

The spirit of independence lives

The resistance will not fold

Forever and a day

We will resist

 

Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan

The occupation will fail

 

Forever and a day

We will resist

 

The Day that Shook the World

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

The Day that Shook the World

 

We should have seen it coming

The writing was on the wall

The day that shook the world

May be the day that we fall

 

Europe stands on edge

Ukraine is on the line

NATO is forming contingencies

For a world that is realigned

 

Vladimir Putin wears a smile

That will last until tomorrow

The dictators are in ecstasy

The free world is in sorrow

 

A new age has begun

Filled with worry and despair

The autocrats are in power

And corporations do not care

 

About the warming of the planet

About protecting human rights

About the fall of a republic

We watch it vanish from our sight

 

Mourning in America

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Mourning in America

 

The majority* of Americans

Have made their feeling clear

The rest of us are mourning

For the nation we hold dear

 

We cannot deny the mandate

Unlike the opposing side

We’ve lost our democratic state

Now we’re forced to take a ride

 

Down the autocratic lane

Where brutes and tyrants live

So begins the tyrant’s reign

That history will not forgive

 

It is mourning in America

And all around the world

The once proud democracy

Into the void was hurled

 

We will not give up hope

We’ll rise to fight again

We’re facing a daunting slope

With a deep desire to win

 

* Plurality

Erosion of Democracy

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Erosion of Democracy

 

We do not lose democracy overnight

It erodes gradually over years

We watch it happen without a fight

It does not arouse our deepest fears

 

They strip away our voting rights

They degrade our vote with gerrymander

They push our protests out of sight

They diminish our side with candor

 

The wealthy buy our fourth estate

They take control of our information

They beat us down and call it great

Say goodbye to our once great nation

 

Our corporate mobsters have the power

Awarded by the Court Supreme

Some will applaud the final hours

The death of the American dream

 

Will we rise from our deep despair?

To gain back what we have lost

There are far too many who do not care

Bend the knee to our new boss

 

The Unseen Hand (of Oppression)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

The Unseen Hand

 

The unseen hand of intimidation

Belongs to the brute of the Kremlin

His presence felt in most every nation

Like a force of voting gremlins

 

They promote stories with clever lies

The truth is altered and deformed

They provide their guilty alibies

They invade like a closing storm

 

From Austria to the Slavic states

From Wisconsin to the Hague

The unseen hand has found its place

Like the scourge of a Russian plague

 

Democracy is on the run

Most everywhere we turn

We cannot rest until it’s done

Let the flames of freedom burn

 

Do not give in, do not despair

The alarm has been sounded

We are rallying the free and fair

On the principles that were founded

 

In ancient Greece and modern Rome

The bricks of our foundation

Democracy has found a home

In the best of civilized nations

 

The Common Good

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Common Good

 

There is something deeply disturbing

About the state of our democracy

When so many of our citizens

Are tempted to autocracy

 

We will never have to vote again

That is exactly what he said

Our democracy has flown away

Say goodnight and go to bed

 

In the morning when we wake up

Our once great country tis of thee

Is no longer of and by the people

And the people are no longer free

 

We had a long and storied run

But the wealthy spoiled the pot

The filthy rich took all the power

And let the republic rot

 

We neglected it for far too long

We let the wealthy have their way

Now that they’ve bought all branches

We will no longer have a say

 

It is for the common good they say

And for the benefit of very few

It is far too late to make a change

There is nothing more we can do

 

The World Awaits

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

The World Awaits

 

With bated breath the world awaits

The end of our republic?

The christening of a new age?

The rendering of fate

 

The raging propaganda wars

Everywhere across the globe

Misinformation in full force

Attacking the frontal lobe

 

We do not know what to believe

Our eyes and ears mislead us

The information we receive

Is what they choose to feed us

 

But people have a seventh sense

We carry it deep inside

It is our last and best defense

A human override

 

There are evil forces everywhere

We will fight them back again

As long as people know and care

The evil will not win

 

Contamination of the Press

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Contamination of the Press

 

Look hard and long, it’s plain to see

The press ain’t what it used to be

A shadow of its former self

A dusty volume on the shelf

 

We’ve seen the power of the press

When Richard Nixon did his best

To undermine our free and fair

In the days when papers cared

 

In a story that toppled towers

They did not hide, they did not cower

They exposed his dirt and crooked deeds

And let it run where it would lead

 

Today they let it all go down

The truth is nowhere to be found

Who cares about democracy?

We’ll profit from autocracy

 

So let it all unfold

The truth will not be told

Not today and not tomorrow

When all is gloom and sorrow

 

(Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post

declines to endorse for president.)

 

Sympathy for the Nazis

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP

Sympathy for the Nazis

 

He wanted to be a dictator

The generals stood in his way

They knew he was a sympathizer

They still know it to this day

 

He told them plain and clear

He thought Hitler had it right

With an iron fist he ruled by fear

They were strong and bold and white

 

He’s not hiding his proclivities

Or they are hidden in plain sight

He doesn’t bother with civility

He loves a crooked fight

 

He has sympathy for the Nazis

And the man who led them all

He killed six million Jews with ease

Before the Axis took the fall

 

Do not give this man the power

To turn this nation on its head

He would march us to the final hour

Just to see his ambitions fed

 

Second Grade Politics

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

Second Grade Politics

 

Remember back in second grade

I know you are but what am I?

The habits that we made

I could never tell a lie!

As you lied through your teeth

I swear on the holy book

As I live and breathe

Don’t look, don’t look!

 

I know you are but what am I?

The only thing is winning

Look your accuser in the eye

Hypocrisy is grinning

Who stole my piece of pie?

We learn to cheat and steal

I know you are but what am I!

How did that make you feel?

Not good. Can we go back?

No but you can make amends

Get your life back on track

And that is how the story ends

I cannot tell a lie

I know you are but what am I?

 

Myth and Message

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Myth and Message

 

Jobs are up, inflation is down

The market is up, crime is down

Wages are up, interest is down

 

Yet the Don says it’s a disaster

And the Don is the people’s master

We believe what we want to believe

Though we know we are being deceived

 

The Dow is at an all-time high

But the poor folks feel they’re suffering

We may not know or understand why

Because all our news is buffering

 

Look around and use your head

America is running strong

You’re deliberately being misled

The naysayers are all wrong

 

And yes they’re handling the hurricanes

And no they’re not stealing money

Look it up before your interest wanes

If it weren’t tragic it would be funny

 

Gender Gap

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Gender Gap

 

What is it about men?

Do we not believe our eyes?

We see clearly where we’ve been

All reason would belie

We should not go back again

When we know the reasons why

 

And yet here we stand

It is far too close to call

A woman against a man

The woman standing tall

The man without a plan

Except to build his wall

 

It is the Us against the Them

How else can we explain?

A flower against a stem

A mind without a brain

Our nation we’d condemn

To a horror filled refrain

 

Will we stumble into night

Or awaken in the day?

Will we finally make it right

Or watch it all wash away?

Will we keep it in our sight?

Hold on come what may

 

The Trump Method

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Trump Method

 

The Trump method is simple

He doesn’t tell a common lie

He doesn’t engage in fabrication

He lets the simple truth fly by

By death he means salvation

He gives the opposite of truth a try

 

Elon Musk is Donald’s minion

Though he was late to get on board

He never offers an opinion

That doesn’t blend with Trump’s discord

 

What he says about those others

He really means about his own

When he says the crowd is huge

He might be standing all alone

 

When he says he’ll save democracy

You should know he means to end it

What he loves is pure autocracy

The republic? He won’t defend it

 

It is all about the big lie

The bigger it is the better

He likes his ham on rye

Don’t say why, it might upset her

 

Tony Soprano

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Tony Soprano

 

Tony Soprano was a solid man

For a mob boss

So he smacked a few guys

They was asking for it

So he whacked a few guys

They deserved to be whacked

 

I get it

 

Tony Soprano was an engaging character

He didn’t take crap from nobody

He valued loyalty above all

He liked a rigged game

As long as Tony got his share

They all got along fine

But if somebody steps out of line

All bets are off

You might get smacked

You might get whacked

 

I get it

 

What I don’t get and never will

Is why so many of us

On the bottom of the mob ladder

The suckers and losers

The ones who get whacked

Why so many of us still want

Tony Soprano for president

 

The Panderer

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP

The Panderer

 

He’ll give you what you want

He will promise anything

If you promise him your vote

He will make the angels sing

 

No taxes on the wealthy

No taxes on the poor

No taxes on the middle class

Free meals at your door

 

He’ll bring peace to Ukraine

An independent Palestine

He’ll turn crazy into sane

He’ll turn water into wine

 

If you ask him how he’ll do it

He’ll wave his hands in the air

He will shoot an arrow through it

Then he’ll fix his eyes and stare

 

There is nothing I can’t do

When I’m the king of all that be

Everyone will know it’s true

When I part the great Red Sea

 

Too Much

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DONALD TRUMP

Too Much

 

We used to wonder why they showed him so much

Now we wonder why they show him so little

The man is desperately out of touch

Like a hoedown without a fiddle

 

If it wasn’t so critical he’d have my pity

He is rapidly losing his mind

In every town and every city

His simple reasoning is hard to find

 

The world is balanced on the edge of a cliff

It is barreling swiftly out of control

We dare not ask what would happen if

It was up to a man who is not whole

 

We have watched him unravel over the years

We have seen the decline of his brain

We must acknowledge our darkest fears

Before our nation goes down the drain

 

We know it will happen to the best of us

It can be hard for us to accept

But the time will come as come it must

To understand he’s beyond his depth

 

Only in America

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Only in America

 

Only in America can a candidate

Lose by some three million votes

Yet emerge victorious in an

Electoral landslide

 

Other nations hold sham elections

Stuffing the ballot box

Altering the count

Arresting the opposition

Shutting down the free press

Suppressing the vote

Anything to ensure the desired result

 

But only in America do we bend

The results by giving voters in

Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan

The weight of a hundred Californians

 

Only in America do we claim

Democratic virtue while practicing

The science of 18^th century

Compromise

 

Project 2025 Emergency

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Project 2025 Emergency

 

Project 2025: A program for autocracy

Among its many evil schemes

The destruction of democracy

The corruption of our justice system

A dismantling of bureaucracy

 

Under Project 2025

Emergency management falls to the states

So when a hurricane slams Florida

The government response:  Suffer your fate!

 

When twisters rip through the Midwest states

And the victims are feeling alone

The government will shake its head

Good luck, you’re on your own!

 

When fires burn through western lands

And the people plead for aid

The government will turn its back

And your hopes will slowly fade

 

When the lights go out in Texas

And they don’t know what to do

Washington will have no ears

Sometimes you’re bound to lose

 

That’s the way it’s going to be

If the rightwing has its way

You may like it in the short term

But soon you'll rue the day