May Day

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LABOR

 

May Day

 

We’ve forgotten the working class

Though they haven’t forgotten us

In every line they come up last

They sit at the back of the bus

 

Every year our leaders tell them

It’s your turn to rise up

Take your rightful dividends

Grab hold of the winner’s cup

 

But every year you’re given less

The working class stays poor

They shake their heads and confess

We can’t afford to give you more

 

While they line their bulging pockets

And shine their silver cars

They amuse themselves with rockets

And aim them at the stars

 

The rich will never give a damn

Keep the working world in need

Let they live on toast and jam

While the rich compound their greed

 

Published: Workingman Poor

Litterateur RW (Redefining World)

May 2026

 

Gutted (Voting Rights Act)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

Gutted (Voting Rights Act)

 

The age of civil rights is dead

As is the age of civil liberties

The Court Supreme to Trump is wed

We’ll have no more equality

 

We’re moving back in time

We’ve reversed the march of progress

Racial bias is now fine

As long as whites do best

 

We have too many blacks and browns

Enlisted in our government

We have to turn this trend around

This is what the founders meant

 

Of course they had no women

Only rich white men could vote

We’re going back to where we’ve been

Too many blacks will sink the boat

 

You cannot right an age-old wrong

You can pretend it never happened

Minorities never did belong

Make this nation great again

 

Lady Justice should be blind

Democracy should not be

We need to represent all kinds

Not just the white elites

 

 

The King's Speech

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

The King’s Speech

 

I am no fan of royalty

British or any other kind

Yet do not question my loyalty

When I say he spoke my mind

 

He took issue with our president

Without mentioning his name

His message was a testament

To the president’s great shame

 

He warned of too much power

In the hands of just one man

He spoke to the day and hour

As much as any royal can

 

He defended our democracy

From Magna Carta to the Bill of Rights

He condemned every theocracy

Beware the Christian right

 

He defended the great alliance

That was born after the War

He spoke with the bold defiance

Of a man from a distant shore

 

(Charles III speaks to Congress

28 April 2026.)

 

 

The Police State

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

The Police State

 

Conspiracy theories notwithstanding

They are creating a police state

They’re not just asking, they’re demanding

They want it now, they cannot wait

 

They’re building centers of mass detention

They’re not just for deportees

This is not a new invention

They are planting despot seeds

 

They don’t like it when we use the name

Authoritarian police state

They won’t like when we place the blame

On the ones who say it’s great

 

But we see what they are doing

It is deliberate and it’s planned

They are funding and ensuring

A new government by one man

 

You may not like to hear it

But it’s coming just the same

All good souls should fear it

To our most eternal shame

 

 

Chaos and Commotion in D.C.

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

 

  

Chaos and Commotion

 

Chaos and commotion

In Washington D.C.

An explosion of emotions

A sense this cannot be

 

The president and all his friends

In moments swept away

The mad rush to defend

Our leaders from the grave

 

It seems like a production

Hollywood grade B

A work under construction

A film you’d never see

 

A speech that seemed rehearsed

An element of suspense

The acting turned out worse

A message that was sent

 

The “hero” who did nothing

But follow their commands

They took him on their wings

To build his corporate brand

Senator Collins Stands for War

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

 

Maine for War

 

The honorable Senator of Maine *

Raises her hand for war

The Senator has made it plain

Her cowardice runs to the core

 

She’s made an art of equivocation

On every issue under the sun

In the end she knows her station

Her vote belongs to the one

 

It’s never about her conscience

It’s rarely about her pride

It rarely makes any sense

She is always on their side

 

This time she has gone too far

In a vote for the Iran war

She is Maine’s declining star

They won’t stand for her anymore

 

She would send your kids to die

So far away and all alone

She could never tell them why

The voters should send her home

 

* Susan Collins

 

Defending Democracy (Again)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DEMOCRACY

 

Defending Democracy (Again)

 

Now is the time to marshal defense

Of our democratic institutions

Our waiting time is nearly spent

We have offered our solutions

 

Our enemies are on the offense

Their attacks are neverending

We all know what is meant

By the money that they’re spending

 

We feel it at the ballot box

They want your papers please

The basic right to vote is blocked

Registration rolls are seized

 

Soldiers at the voting sites

Insurrectionists in the fold

A bold denial of our rights

The excuses have grown old

 

If we’d like to stop the steal

We must rally to the cause

These attacks are very real

We can’t depend on the law

 

They will take it if they can

Give an inch, they’ll take a mile

If we fail to make a stand

They will take it with a smile

 

 

The Saboteur

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: NETANYAHU

 

The Saboteur

 

With the Strait of Hormuz closed

And the whole world feeling squeezed

Netanyahu plays the rogue

He derailed the talks with ease

 

It did not apply to Lebanon

The bombing there increased

Did they get their signals wrong?

Or did he sabotage the peace?

 

The story played on Wall Street

The Dow went through the sky

Netanyahu saw defeat

So he exposed it as a lie

 

Now the fighting will go on

In fact it hardly skipped a beat

Netanyahu played the con

That made the lie complete

 

Iran is fighting to survive

Like all of Palestine before

The cause of peace has lost its drive

We will carry on with war

 

The brutal goal is demolition

Reduce it all to a wasteland

That is Netanyahu’s mission

And he will do it if he can

 

If that means mass genocide

That is just the way it goes

They’ve got us on their side

So we will watch the horrors grow

 

 

The Master

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP

 

The Master

 

He is a genius in his mind

No one’s seen anything like it

He is the greatest of his kind

If you’re fool enough to buy it

 

He’ll take you down for being there

He’ll chop you into little pieces

He’ll carve you up in manners rare

Until your action ceases

 

He is the king of all he sees

The minions bow before him

He’s conquered death and all disease

The ladies all adore him

 

His greatness stands above us all

He is the great destroyer

When he breathes whole nations fall

He’s a scholar and a lawyer

 

If you should see him run away

As far and fast as you can run

If he perceives you’ve gone astray

He’ll end you just for fun

 

Kicking the Hornets' Nest

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IRAN WAR

 

Kicking the Hornets’ Nest

 

When you initiate a war

You ought to know what’s in store

It shouldn’t be just a guess

When you’ve kicked the hornets’ nest

 

The Hormuz Strait is still closed

Iran is shooting down our jets

The sense of failure only grows

For we have kicked the hornets’ nest

 

The whole region is inflamed

The whole world is feeling pressed

We all know who’s to blame

For he has kicked the hornets’ nest

 

Now we are offering a deal

Though it seems it is in jest

These ultimatums are not real

For we have kicked the hornets’ nest

 

Now Iraq is up in arms

What happens next is just a guess

Every move will promise harm

For we have kicked the hornets’ nest

 

Get out now while there’s still time

Get out yesterday is best

As all our enemies fall in line

We have kicked the hornets’ nest

 

The Costs of War

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR

 

The Cost of War

 

We really don’t need healthcare

We don’t need housing anymore

We can use that money elsewhere

We can fund the Iran War

 

We don’t need to feed the homeless

We don’t need shelters from the storms

We don’t need highways in the west

So we can pave the road to war

 

We don’t need public education

We don’t need to help the poor

We don’t need walls or space stations

Let’s fund the Iran War

 

After all it is our mission

We are destined to want more

He has made this bold decision

We must fund the Iran War

 

To hell with all our handouts

To hell with building up our shores

Tell the world to have no doubts

We can fund our dirty wars

 

 

Back to the Stone Age

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IRAN WAR

 

Back to the Stone Age

 

America is great

America is strong

If you doubt us just wait

We will send all Iran

Back to the stone age

To where they belong

We’ll show you our rage

We’ll sing you our song

 

Ninety million people

Living in the dark

Ninety million people

The vision is stark

Ninety million people

Without power or defense

Wipe the slate clean

Is that what he meant?

The greatest ever seen

A president that’s bent

 

Lay waste to all the land

Ancient Persia is no more

Destruction is his brand

He’s the master of war

He did it because he can

Now he seems a little bored

He’s desperate for fans

He did it for the Lord

 

War for Jesus

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IRAN WAR

 

War for Jesus

 

“Jesus don’t like killing no matter

what the reasons for…”

 

John Prine, Flag Decal

 

Jesus was a man of peace

Do not prostitute his name

The man who turned the other cheek

Would fill your soul with shame

 

You’re the Secretary of War

That much you have proclaimed

You are the president’s little whore

You’re supposed to take the blame

 

So don’t shift it all to Jesus

Do not blame it on the lord

Did you think that it would please us?

Calling Jesus to your war

 

Blame it on your raging boss

This is a war of his choosing

He tossed the dice and lost

We’re accustomed to his losing

 

(Note: Pete Hegseth makes appeals

to Jesus in the war effort.)

 

Advice to Young Men

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CONSCRIPTION

 

Advice to Young Men *

 

It may be hard to believe

They used to send us to war

They lied and deceived

They never said what for

 

They gave us a number

They took away our names

Then we went into slumber

It all felt like a game

 

They wanted us to fight

Without question or doubt

It would all turn out right

When we figured it out

 

So they sent us off to war

To kill and sometimes die

On a far, faraway shore

And still we never asked why

 

Now here’s my sage advice

Do not answer that call

Let them ask you more than twice

Do not answer them at all

 

It goes against humanity

To send our young to die

It smells of rank insanity

When they cannot tell you why

 

* and women