Columbian Quake

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CATASTROPHES

 

Columbian Quake

 

Our hearts go out to Bogota

For their suffering this day

Tears are flowing, emotions raw

Struck by a major quake

 

At times of these disasters

There are no politics

Our hearts become our masters

The aid must happen quick

 

All the world should unite

In doing what we’re able

A convergence in the fight

To make the stricken nation stable

 

Today it is Columbia

Tomorrow it may be Mexico

Maybe Cuba or Bolivia

Where it strike we cannot know

 

We know it will happen somewhere

Be it near or be it far

And we will always be there

For it will strike where we are

 

We cannot waste our time and resource

On such foolish things as war

Someday we will change course

And that will open many doors

 

The Drought

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

The Drought

 

Lakes Powell and Mead are running dry

The Colorado is endangered

We know the simple reasons why

The strange is getting stranger

 

A victim of global climate change

A winter dry as bones

The ecosystem rearranged

The riverbeds of stone

 

Seven states are wondering

Just when their share runs out

The truth will leave a lasting sting

The warming’s not in doubt

 

Desalination is the only way

The west will survive the drought

Our world has gone so far astray

In time we’ll figure out

 

We had a chance to stem the tide

But now it’s far too late

We’re in it for a rocky ride

Hard times will be our fate

 

Some may wish to ride it out

The chips fall where they may

But one more year of stifling drought

And all will feel the pain  

World on Fire

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

World on Fire

 

The world’s on fire because of us

Because of what we’ve done

In our leaders we’ve lost trust

The whole planet’s on the run

 

Think of what we’ve handed down

From the generations past

Our way of life has been unwound

The damage done is vast

 

We have left a world on fire

Catastrophes and drought

A world balanced on a tight wire

Without a clear way out

 

We wish we had it all again

I swear we’d do things differently

These are the doings of lesser men

The ones who worshiped greed

 

They didn’t care what harm they did

They plotted and they planned

They answered to the highest bid

They built their castles grand

 

Soon they’ll answer for their lapse

Their callousness and greed

They’ll hear the bells toll and the taps

They’ll find a place of need

 

 

Fire Wind and Rain

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Fire Wind and Rain

 

The rain in Spain no longer falls

The south of France is burning

They’re building up their firewalls

The climate tide is turning

 

Waves of heat sweep overland

The winds are blowing strong

Again we’re forced to make a stand

But the nightmare will go on

 

We need to change our thinking

The places where we build

Our best laid plans are sinking

We are losing strength of will

 

What happens there will happen here

In face it’s happening today

As danger and destruction nears

We’ll be forced to move away

 

The ravages of mother earth

Are moving to the fore

We’ll have to measure what it’s worth

An end to every war

 

For we have a common enemy

We’ll need all of our resources

We’ll reassess our common needs

And unify our forces

 

Horror in Caracas

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: VENEZUELA

 

Horror in Caracas

 

Twenty-story buildings

Reduced to piles of debris

A collapse of floors and ceilings

The people of Caracas bleed

 

Thousands and thousands homeless

Hundreds and thousands dead

So many people laid to rest

So many left in dread

 

What future lies in store

For a nation torn and tossed

For the masses who are poor

For the countless who are lost?

 

We are sworn to their aid

Since Maduro took his leave

Yet will our dedication fade?

Will we meet the rising needs?

 

Our hearts ache for those poor souls

Who must suffer most of all

May Venezuela be made whole

May the world answer to her call

 

 

Datong Mining Disaster

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Datong Mining Disaster

 

Ninety dead on the evening news

The number may be growing

Disasters come in threes and twos

Our vulnerability showing

 

Coal kills when you dig it out

It kills when you burn it down

No one should have any doubt

It should be left beneath the ground

 

Datong is just the latest

In a series of coal explosions

Not the worst and not the greatest

In a state of mass erosion

 

In this modern day and age

No human should go under

It’s not worth a decent wage

Why we still do it is a wonder

 

The day has come to let it go

The way of video rental stores

Let’s have no more of burning coal

Let’s close that rusted door

 

Let’s find our way to sunlight

And other renewable forms

That free us from our deadly plight

And moderate our giant storms

 

 

Killer Virus

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: HEALTH

 

Killer Virus

 

Another killer virus is inevitable

And we are not prepared

We’re particularly susceptible

To one that carries through the air

 

We’ve cut funding to World Health

We need more money for war

We’ve misappropriated our wealth

To things we don’t need anymore

 

We don’t need to cause great harm

We don’t need weapons of war

We need to banish deadly arms

We need allies on distant shores

 

If this hantavirus is not the one

The one is coming down the line

Devastation will have its run

We are observing all the signs

 

When it comes we won’t be ready

We’ll be scrambling to respond

The Europeans will hold steady

But our structure will be gone

 

 

Extinction

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Extinction

 

The black rhino is no more

The bandicoot and wallaby

It seems humanity is at war

With everything that breathes

 

Extinction in the Gaza Strip

Extinction in Ukraine

Stack the bombs and let em rip

Our race has gone insane

 

Farewell to the shoreline

Farewell to clear blue skies

Is everybody feeling fine?

Welcome to the land of lies!

 

Wars and rumors of

Death and mass destruction

Hatred has displaced our love

A chain of flame eruptions

 

We are now a warlike nation

Our every move destroys

We spread annihilation

With a certain sense of joy

 

When it comes to extinction events

Humanity is not immune

Our time on earth is almost spent

In fact it’s past high noon

 

 

Monsoon

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Monsoon

 

Floods have taken hundreds of lives

In the Kashmir region of Pakistan

In a place that tests your will to survive

A harsh and unforgiving land

 

The floods trigger the landslides

A torrent of flowing mud

A river of death far and wide

A consequence of the flood

 

The monsoons visit every year

The people take it in stride

Bury the dead and shed their tears

Rebuild and stand with pride

 

Each year the rain grows stronger

Each year they bury more

The monsoon season is longer

The flashflood waters roar

 

This too is global climate change

And yet we hear no warning

It seems the earth is now estranged

In the years of the great warming

 

Preparations

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CATASTROPHES

 

Preparations

 

A threat to all of humankind

Duck and cover under desks

Let’s pretend we’re deaf and blind

What has created such a mess?

Have you ever wondered why?

Our preparations are in jest

Out of sight and out of mind

Let us hope it turns out best

Everything will be fine

Maybe – more or less

 

The storms are growing ever stronger

The wrath is ever greater

Hurricane season is even longer

And autumn is even later

The future is looking dark and grim

Shadows falling everywhere

Our chances growing very slim

Yet we are not prepared

The light is growing dim

Stand up if your care

 

We search for something better than

The path that we’ve been walking

A better way to understand

The measures we’ve been blocking

The time is now to get prepared

Disasters will not end

Ignore the pattern if you dare

It’s just around the bend

Here, there and everywhere

It soon could be the end

 

Burn Baby Burn

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Burn Baby Burn

 

Drill baby drill, burn baby burn

The US blames Canada

The climate takes a turn

Smoke comes down from northern skies

The ancient timber burning

Old growth brush like tinder fries

There ain’t no sense in learning

No one wants to hear the facts

The temperature is rising

The train is going off the tracks

There ain’t no compromising

 

It’s burn baby burn, drill baby drill

We’ve put the wheels in motion

Our time is nearly standing still

With stubborn blind devotion

The money men have got it all

The rest of us don’t matter

We failed to answer every call

Fat cats are getting fatter

Through it all we’re burning more

It’s rotten to the core

 

It’s burn baby burn

When will we ever learn?

And it’s drill baby drill

We haven’t got the will

 

Climate Deniers

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Deniers

 

For the many souls who were lost that day

The survivors can only pray

They throw up their arms and plead God’s will

With a shrug that gives me a chill

I wonder what these people will say

When they learn there was a safer way

They did not do what they should have done

They denied the truth that now should stun

There are no warnings for floods or fires

In the world of the climate deniers

 

They say that no one could have known

But they did and they said it clearly

The threat of disasters has only grown

And the warnings were repeated yearly

The hurricanes will batter the coast

The floods will ravage the land

Those who have little will suffer the most

And they’ll blame it on God’s left hand

But the rain and wind and the raging fire

Are the products of the climate deniers

 

 

Summer Winds

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Summer Winds

 

The summer winds blow hot this year

Sparking dry brush into flame

The people run or hide in fear

On the outskirts of Marseille

 

For this the French are well prepared

They halted trains and planes

Though the fire spread and flared

It was tempered in the main

 

Wildfires strike across the globe

The floods and monster storms

Catastrophes will come in droves

As the planet has grown warm

 

It’s far too late to stem the tide

Disasters will come hard and fast

Destruction will be far and wide

The damage done will last

 

Tell your leaders everywhere

In every town and nation

The time is now to get prepared

For the great acceleration

 

 

Camp Mystic (Texas Flood)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Camp Mystic

 

On the banks of the Guadalupe

They camped for a hundred years

Now the camp is under water

Swollen with a flood of tears

 

The girls of the Christian summer camp

Were fast asleep that night

Some were playing by the light of a lamp

When a storm came into sight

 

They did not know the depth of it

The river rose so hard and fast

They could not know the breadth of it

It hit them with a blast

 

It swept away their summer fun

It stole away their innocence

The days of carefree youth are done

It never will make sense

 

The camp will never be the same

A place of boundless sorrow

A tragedy will be its name

Each day beyond tomorrow

 

(At last count, 27 girls were missing

from Camp Mystic in Texas.)

 

No Time for War

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR

 

No Time for War

 

A crisis around every corner

Never knowing what’s in store

When you’re fighting for survival

There is no time for war

 

The beasts of the apocalypse

Come knocking at our door

Fire, flood and pestilence

There is no time for war

 

The rising tides of warming

Are swallowing the shores

If you’re inside the danger zone

There is no time for war

 

The cost of finding shelter

From the deadliest of storms

When no one has an answer

This is no time for war

 

The pillars of our society

Are shaken to the core

The pressures and anxiety

This is no time for war

Sanity

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Sanity

 

Hold on to your sanity

When the world is slipping into madness

Do not yield to your vanity

When the world is drowned in sadness

 

For we are not the center

Nor are we at the core

When the world descends to hellish grief

We are not the reasons for

 

In a world of gloom and horror

The sullen one is king

In a town of scream and shudder

The quiet one can sing

 

We have lost our equilibrium

We are reaching out for kindness

The ones who guide our passing

Are lost in moral blindness

 

If you want a world of sanity

Know that it begins at home

Take pity on humanity

For we are not alone