Hidden Dragon

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Hidden Dragon

 

Beneath the surface of Russian brutality

There lurks a hidden dragon

Beneath the smart bombs and guided missiles

Beneath the serial war crimes

Beneath the killing of women and children

Beneath the mounting rubble of destruction

Beneath the endless, mindless horror

There lies a Chinese beast

 

At the crossroads of international affairs

The Chinese faced a choice

To follow the road of economic prosperity

In partnership with the West or

Form an alliance with the Brute of the North

To follow the path of democratic reform or

Join the barbarian path of conquest

 

They have chosen the path of darkness

The path of gross environmental destruction

The path of waste and extortion

The path of violence and imperialism

 

They will find in Russia a treacherous ally

An alliance of temporary value

The Russians offer little economically

They have weapons, oil and little else

The Chinese depend on the West

They will suffer for their betrayal

The hidden dragon no longer hidden

Will turn on itself in self immolation

The Chinese economy will crumble

The rule of Chi will end

 

Taiwan

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Taiwan

 

Taiwan will not surrender

They refuse to bend the knee

They have sent the world a message

From across the China Sea

 

The voters faced a choice

To hold an independent course

Or to yield to the power of China

With it superior military force

 

They voted with their hearts

Not assured where it will lead

The beast may rear its head

Or plant a million seeds

 

The mainland is unphased

They choose to bide their time

Taiwan lives in their shadow

Despite an independent mind

 

What does the future hold?

No one living really knows

Each time the monster flexes

Our worries only grow

 

The Great China Freeze

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

The Great China Freeze

 

They’re burning coal in China

To survive the winter freeze

They are poisoning the very air

That their people must breathe

It seems the leaders do not care

It is something they believe

If a million people die today

For the benefit of the state

Mark a path and show the way

They will call it the way of fate

 

But the world must turn this path around

We must find a better road

A path that is reachable and sound

That seeks to lighten every load

 

We can’t continue fighting wars

We know where that road leads

A rush to shut disaster’s doors

We all suffer, we all bleed

 

Let’s work together for a change

That works for all our nations

We know it seems a little strange

But its promise is salvation

 

Putin Makes the Rounds

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: PUTIN

Putin Makes the Rounds

 

Putin makes the rounds

Erdogan and Kim Jong Un

Walking on shaky grounds

Striking a discordant tune

 

Putin wants it all

The weapons and the grain

On the border of China

In the war on Ukraine

 

Watch out for what you wish for

It just might come true

Knocking at your door

Your debt is coming due

 

Putin is a pariah

Everywhere he goes

Acting like the messiah

His horns begin to show

 

They don’t like you in the east

They like you less in Istanbul

They despise like a beast

Or they regard you as a fool

 

Enemies of Democracy

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Enemies of Democracy

 

Putin is a master propagandist

A pretender to democracy

His elections are a farce

He assaults the free press

He destroys political opposition

He attacks his democratic neighbors

For daring to choose their own leaders

 

Xi is a master of propaganda

Another pretender to democracy

Isn’t it strange how ruthless dictators

Find it necessary to pretend?

There is no genuine journalism

No institutions of free speech

No challenge to government dictates

No resistance to oppression

 

Erdogan is a wolf in sheep’s clothing

He exploits the religious right

He jails journalists and opposition

He punishes freedom of thought

He rules with the fist of fear

He maintains military control

 

Bolsonaro is a wannabe

He tried to negate a lawful election

He tried to silence the opposition

He tried to punish dissent

He failed

 

Netanyahu is a wannabe

He despises independent speech

He tried to gut the judiciary

He would destroy the free press

If he had half a chance

He would establish military rule

 

Trump is a threat to democracy

He admires only strongmen

He disrespects the rule of law

He wishes to use the justice department

To punish and silence his enemies

Given a chance he would end

Democracy in America and

Appoint an American King

Dictators United

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Dictators United (The Great Divide)

 

Chi is a dictator *

Putin is a dictator

A dictator is one who has complete power

over the policies and conduct of a nation

That a nation holds mock elections

does not make it a true republic

Trump of the US was a dictator wannabe

He led a failed coup d’état

Bolsonaro of Brazil was a wannabe

He too failed at a coup d’état

Erdogan of Turkey is a wannabe

He attacks the institutions of democracy

Places opposition leaders behind bars

Punishes journalists and dissidents

Modi of India flirts with dictatorship

He leads a violent repression of minorities

He is accused of encouraging genocide

India today remains a democracy

but it teeters on the edge of the abyss

What happens when Modi’s party loses?

Will he yield to the people’s will?

Or will he follow Trump and Bolsonaro?

On this the future of Indian democracy depends

And the world lies in the balance

 

We are fast approaching a division of world

powers into democracies and autocracies

If India joins Chi and Putin in embracing

the strong hand of oppression

a future of perpetual violence and

upheaval lies waiting

 

As members of the free world

we are caught in a vice of horrid choices

We need India to stand with us

We need Turkey to a lesser degree

If they fail the cost will be profound

 

* Biden refers to Chi as a dictator while

welcoming Modi to the White House

 

Teasing Armageddon

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Teasing Armageddon

 

A near collision of mammoth warships

In the southern China Sea

An adolescent game of courage

A near cataclysmic tease

 

How far can China push us

Before disaster strikes?

The brink of Armageddon

Is this what you would like?

 

The Chinese think they own the sea

And all that lies within

The sovereign nation of Taiwan

Is where the war begins

 

We cannot play this horrid game

The grown-ups must hold sway

With the planet in the balance

We must find another way

 

Remembering Ronald Reagan

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

Remembering Ronnie

 

I remember Ronald Reagan

The man Republicans used to love

Now that we’ve experienced Dubya

and the Don we know he’s not

as bad as we once thought

 

He was bad but not that bad

He never started a war on one nation (Iraq)

for the crimes of another (Afghanistan)

He never drove the economy over a cliff

He never called for open insurrection

He only sold arms to an enemy (Iran)

He only punished poor people

He only turned his back on gays (AIDS)

 

Some of it was not his fault

He was largely absent in his second term

His dementia was clear enough

His Alzheimer’s was diagnosed later

 

Reagan was elected to his second term

at the age of seventy-three

Americans may soon face a choice of

two elderly men to lead the country

One would be 77 at his inauguration

The other would be eighty-one

 

Give all that America and the world faces

Global climate change

Russian military aggression

A Chinese-Russian alliance

Challenges to democracy

A world in constant crisis

Do we really want to trust the next

four years and the future of the planet

to a man who may not remember

who Ronald Reagan was?

 

The Western Alliance

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

The Western Alliance (for Macron)

 

The strength of the western alliance

Had endured a multitude of tests

It has survived a president’s defiance

To affirm the unity of the west

 

Along comes Macron and Xi

With an awkward shake of the hand

A man too eager to please

Devalues the democracy brand

 

Does Macron speak for his nation

Or does he only speak for himself?

Does he work for the world’s salvation

Or is NATO now on the shelf?

 

We know that you are afraid

Of the Russian Chinese threat

But the price of Chinese trade

May not exceed the morality debt

 

China vs. Chinese

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

China vs. Chinese

 

I have a problem with China

I have no problem with the Chinese

I have no problem with the Asians

They have no problem with me

 

Asian Americans are rightly proud

For the things they have achieved

They have a right to say it loud

When cut do they not bleed?

 

China is a wayward nation

Our adversary in many ways

They oppose our basic freedoms

They block the path to a living wage

 

The Chinese government is oppressive

Chinese Americans are not the same

They’ve worked hard for what they have

For China they’re not to blame

 

The Chinese Curse

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

The Chinese Curse

 

Covid is a disease

It is not a Chinese curse

The curse is their failure

to come forward with the truth

China, Brazil and Florida all

lied about their covid dead

The Chinese covered up the

origin and spread of the virus

They all covered up the infection

and the death rates

If you don’t test, you don’t diagnose

If you don’t diagnose it doesn’t exist

They practiced a policy of denial

Someday the truth will surface

It is emerging now in China

They failed to contain covid

They cracked down on the people

yet failed to control the spread

Now the crisis is imminent

and the world is intolerant

When you deny the truth

at a cost of countless lives

you sacrifice good faith

You are no longer trusted in

the community of nations

 

One-Man Rule (China)

   RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL DEMOCRACY

 

One-Man Rule

 

The unstoppable force of the people

Erupts in protest and rage

The people gathered in the streets

Have reached the riot stage

 

An end to the Covid tyranny

An end to the ruthless and cruel

The people always had the power

To end this one-man rule

 

The power of Chi is infinite

The power of Xi is not

When you carelessly abuse your power

There are lessons to be wrought

 

To the people you must yield

There can be no other way

You must honor the will of the people

If in power you would stay

 

Taiwan and Ukraine

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Taiwan and Ukraine

 

China is to Taiwan

As Russia is to Ukraine

A world of aggressive war

Is a world gone insane

 

We have lived with war too long

We have sanctioned its abuse

When invaders are rewarded

We have lit a deadly fuse

 

Ukraine is a sovereign nation

All the world must agree

Taiwan is an independent state

With the right to be free

 

China is to Russia

As Taiwan is to Ukraine

The right to independence

The responsibility to refrain