Sanae Takaichi

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Sanae Takaichi

 

Sanae Takaichi of Japan

Has been given a dramatic mandate

She will balance if she can

The nation’s debt against its fate

 

She wants to cut the tax on food

Not a radical proposition

Her defense of Taiwan may seem rude

If you’re a Chinese institution

 

The Japanese demand change

They were tired of being bullied

A reversal of fortune may seem strange

But their dignity was sullied

 

Known for stoic conservatism

Takaichi deserves a chance

To deliver a novel populism

If the working folks advance

 

Managing debt will not be easy

It may require sacrifice

The results may not be pleasing

But the rich must pay the price

 

 

A New World Order

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

A New World Order

 

Europe and India have made a pact

China and Canada follow suit

How will the United States react?

With a handshake or the boot?

 

The American leader has changed it all

Beginning with his infernal wall

He’s thrown out all our former friends

Creating wounds that may not mend

 

What sort of order will evolve?

An American hemisphere domination?

There are problems now we cannot solve

We may become an isolated nation

 

Nobody informed our president

The colonial age is done and gone

Now he wonders where our allies went

A new world order has dawned

 

Now the president sits in his tower alone

He cries out in lonely despair

No one will even pick up the phone

Not even the sycophants care

 

Carney Stands Strong

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CANADA

 

Carney Stands Strong *

 

Canada is standing strong

Against the bully to its south

A deal with China isn’t wrong

When faced with all this doubt

 

When most of Europe comes along

The US may be out

His arrogance does not belong

That’s not what we’re about

 

There’s only so much you can take

Before the bindings snap

The alliances are bound to break

Our friendships will collapse

 

Those who stand in opposition

Can face the coming days

With the pride of knowing their decisions

Will light a better way

 

The day will come when all will see

Through the bluster and vainglory

This president was a tragedy

The villain in this story

 

* Prime Minister Mark Carney

 

 

Alien Nation

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Alien Nation

 

Canada forms a new alliance

With a China trade agreement

Breaking up their old reliance

On American investment

 

All of Europe stands with Norway

On Greenland’s independence

If the US wants to play its games

The world’s patience has been spent

 

We’ve become an alien nation

We are running out of friends

In our quest to create sensation

The American age is at an end

 

We do not own Venezuela

Arctic Greenland or Australia

If we continue on this path

We’ll have earned the free world’s wrath

 

It is past time to mark an end

To this mindless game of power

To strike a balance we depend

On a trust beyond the hour

 

No Peace

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

No Peace

 

There is no peace in Syria

where forever war still reigns

in Yemen or Nigeria

where war’s an old refrain

 

In Gaza there’s no peace

in Israel or Ukraine

in Russia there’s a beast

whose war is now ingrained

 

There is no peace in Pakistan

the old war rages on

no peace in Afghanistan

the Taliban is not gone

 

There’s no peace in any nation

where the iron fist is strong

there is no celebration

where everything is wrong

 

There is no peace in India

in China or Taiwan

in Asia or in Africa

in Thailand or Saigon

 

There is no peace in Paris

in Berlin or Brazil

as long as terror scares us

the threat of war is real

 

 

Contingencies

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Contingencies

 

What will Zelensky do

When Trump betrays Ukraine?

What will the continent do

When Russia makes it plain

That they will not stop the war

As long as Putin reigns

As long as there is more

To load on Russia’s train?

 

What will America do

When Europe does not fold?

What will China do

When Putin’s act grows old?

When the whole world realigns?

When democracies grow bold?

When India reads the signs?

 

What will the world do

When all are forced to choose?

Old ties or something new?

Who wins and who will lose?

When the people finally rise?

To claim their sovereign prize

And affirm their best allies? 

 

Takaichi Speaks the Truth

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Takaichi Speaks the Truth

 

To speak the truth is dangerous

To a political career

Sometimes the truth will follow us

And swallow us with fear

 

Sanae Takaichi, leader of Japan

Has spoken true and clear

It was long past time to take a stand

For Taiwan is near and dear

 

Should China violate the truce

In defiance of all laws

Japan would surely have to choose

To yield or show its claws

 

The Chinese seem to get their way

Though often they are wrong

All nations have a price to pay

From the weakest to the strong

 

If China moves against Taiwan

There will be a resistance

With consequences hard and long

Taiwan will get assistance

 

Do not become a hated land

A land of cold aggression

Don’t force the world to take a stand

Taiwan is your obsession

 

 

Xi Takes the Lead

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Xi Takes the Lead

 

While America proclaims a hoax

China moves ahead

Making Xi a little more woke

And lessening the dread

Of a climate change denier

Living in the White House

A dirty coal supplier

A deal with Doctor Faust

 

Reducing carbon emissions

In the interest of humankind

Reduces our suspicions

Of what China has in mind

For all our best decisions

Depend on what we find

In the hope of nuclear fission

And the global warming bind

 

As America steps back

The Chinese take the lead

Where science is under attack

All of Europe feels the need

There’s something that we lack

When the whole world plants a seed

While we run off the tracks

In record numbing speed

 

 

America the Free

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

America the Free

 

This is not the Philippines

Where Duterte had his reign

We know what independence means

We will not be restrained

 

This is not Beijing

Where they have an iron fist

Where freedom has no meaning

Where they keep an enemies list

 

This is not the Kremlin

Where Putin is their king

Where dissenters are imprisoned

Where elections are a sting

 

This is not Pyongyang

In service to dear leader

When Lady Liberty rang

They replied they didn’t need her

 

This is the land of liberty

America the free

Where individuality

Belongs to you and me

 

This is the land of light

No man above the law

Where fundamental rights

Are not considered flaws

 

Where everyone is free

To speak as they will speak

To be what they would be

To seek what they would seek

 

 

Putin and Xi

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Putin and Xi (and Modi)

 

Putin meets with Xi

The monster of the north

Meets the beast of the east

What does it mean going forth?

 

The invasion carries on

As the monster stakes his claim

The whole world knows he’s wrong

We will not forget Ukraine

 

Kiev expresses fear

That America will refrain

That the end is drawing near

But we won’t forget Ukraine

 

Ukraine would be the first

But it would not be the last

Nor would it be the worst

Another war would come to pass

 

Thanks to Putin and to Xi

The end of human rights

A massive loss of dignity

Democracy in plight

 

Now Modi joins the fray

On the wrong side of the line

From the republic he will stray

To lead his nation in decline

 

 

BRICS in the Wall

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

BRICS in the Wall

 

Lula took aim at the US of A

The Saudis looked on silently

The Iranians had much to say

The Emirates could hardly breathe

 

They all blasted the Israelis

As they were right to do

The Palestinians are on their knees

With no one left to sue

 

But when you blast the warmongers

Yet fall silent on Ukraine

You should hold your tongues longer

Before singing that refrain

 

The Russians have no virtue

The Chinese little more

Give credit wherever it is due

Give none to the masters of war

 

Stand up for all democracies

Oppose the bold oppressors

Call out all those hypocrisies

As something less than lesser

 

 

 

Tik Tok

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CHINA

Tik Tok

 

He’s got something up his sleeve

An instrument of Chinese power

Tik Tok wins a late reprieve

Must be the Chinese hour

 

They’re collecting information

On every teenaged girl and boy

All to serve a sovereign nation

Though we may think it’s just a toy

 

The Russians have their ways

The Chinese have their own

We have seen the way it plays

The kids are dancing to their tone

 

We will see how this plays out

When the next election comes around

Will the Chinese gain new clout?

Will it shake our shaky ground?

 

Xi Jinping is not our friend

He will undo us if he can

On his motives we can depend

It is the long-term Chinese plan

The Chinese Hack

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CHINA

The Hack

 

A weapon of war or the men in black?

A declaration of warlike intent?

Beyond all doubt the Chinese hack

Reveals a heart and motive bent

 

The Chinese have been our friends

In business and in trade

On them the corporate world depends

The nation’s workers we betrayed

 

In Xi Jinping we placed our trust

Now we’d like to take it back

Our good relations will go bust

In respect for the Chinese hack

 

China clearly wants to reign

Far beyond the Asiatic sphere

This hack will leave a lasting stain

That all the western world should fear

 

The global balance has gone wrong

The global train is off the tracks

We curse the powerful and strong

Strike back at the Chinese hack

 

North Korea Crosses the Line

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Korea Crosses the Line

 

Japan and South Korea in the East China Sea

Sending Xi Jinping a warning sign

Crossing swords with the Philippines

While North Korea crosses the line

 

The Russians are emboldened

By the election in the west

A new deal with the dear leader

Will their new weapons pass the test?

Meanwhile Trump is almost giddy

Netanyahu is his special guest

While most of Europe is in mourning

The autocrats are feeling fine

The Ukrainians are in panic

North Korea has crossed the line

 

What kind of world are we handing down?

To an undeserving generation?

A world of warming wayward bound

Years of war and devastation

 

Is it too late to sound a warning?

Is it too late to make a change?

We are in the age of warming

With all solutions out of range

BRICS

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

BRICS

 

Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa

You are judged by the company you keep

Brazil, South Africa, India

I believe you are in too deep

 

Do you really want to be

In the company of brute dictators?

Far better to make friends

With republicans and liberators

 

You’ve been tempted by oppressors

In all their varied forms

Blatant cheats and vote depressors

We hope you have reformed

 

But if you wish to make alliance

With the planet’s worst offenders

We’ll reconsider our reliance

On your human rights defenders

 

A new world is taking shape

We are taking it in stride

Consider every step you take

Do not take the other side

 

Sedition in Hong Kong

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Sedition in Hong Kong

 

Sedition in Hong Kong

Is daring to act like a journalist

 

Sedition in Hong Kong

Is daring to criticize Beijing

 

Once there was hope of freedom

Freedom of speech

Freedom of assembly

Freedom to march the streets in protest

Freedom to publish your views

 

That hope was brutally attacked

By the officers of oppression

 

Now they jail journalists

Now they serve warning to all

Who would ever dare oppose them

 

They don’t know the history of resistance

They don’t know the power of the people

It may take a decade of resistance

It may take a century of defiance

But the people will not forget

The people will not give in

They will find a way forward

They will find the path to freedom

They will march toward democracy

Step by step, year after year

Decade after decade

Until at last they prevail

 

(Stand News editors Chung Pui-kuen

and Patrick Lam sentence to prison.)