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.)

 

America Lost

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

America Lost

 

America has lost her way

Long before Election Day

The stage is set

The courts are let

The sycophants are in their place

 

The vote no longer matters

Amidst the scattered chatter

The fix is in

The losers win

A head upon the platter

 

What is false and what is true?

Sinclair disseminates fake news

Russia plays

And China too

The people haven’t got a clue

 

The nation cries in deep distress

Democracy is at its best

When people know

What’s going on

We’re failing every single test

 

Time will tell if we survive

To keep the sacred dream alive

We cannot fail

The world depends

On us to find our patriot’s pride

 

Dissent in Hong Kong

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Dissent in Hong Kong

 

There is no joy on the streets of Hong Kong

There is no discourse at all

There are martyr’s tears for Helena Wong *

Among the chosen to take the fall

 

A conspiracy to commit subversion

A trumped-up charge if ever there was

They claim the right to imprison anyone

No matter what one says or does

 

They stood for the right to public protest

They stood for Hong Kong’s independence

They face a lifetime behind cold bars

They were hardly allowed a defense

 

Today in Hong Kong you have no rights

Except for the right to silence

If you want to speak or raise a sign

Beijing’s answer is always violence

 

* Found guilty of Draconian security law

   (along with thirteen others).

   

Sheep

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Sheep

 

A candidate in Germany steps down

After expressing sympathy for the SS –

The elite Nazi enforcement unit

 

An American candidate for president

Takes down a campaign video

Expressing admiration for The Reich

As if he didn’t understand the reference

 

The Proud Boys are the SS without

The power of the state

 

The European right is marching goosestep

With Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping

Accepting laundered money and propaganda

 

The NRA is a front for Russian money

 

One World News is a front for Russia

 

The propaganda war has begun and our side –

The side of freedom and democracy – for

there can be no freedom without democracy –

Has fallen asleep

 

Those who follow their fearless leader

Like sheep who have lost their way

Will awaken tomorrow in a nightmare

 

They too will be left behind

They will be discarded with the rest of us

For they will have lost their purpose

They placed the strongman in power

And now they are of no more use

We are vermin and they are sheep

 

Putin and Xi (The Dark Alliance)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Putin and Xi

 

Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping

The monster of Moscow

The bully of Beijing

They will lie and cheat and do anything

To further their cause of expansion

 

China claims Taiwan is theirs

Russia claims Ukraine

They rattle their sabers on a dare

Their intentions cold and plain

 

They want a new age of empire

The glory of their past

The west denies their brute desires

Their flags are at half mast

 

They push all states toward their ends

With arms and blatant bribes

But on economy their cause depends

That is the true divide

 

Xi and Putin will pay a price

Beyond prestige and lives

Losing their best trade allies

Their rule may not survive

Banning a Song (Hong Kong)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Banning a Song

 

Your stranglehold on power

Is something less than strong

When you determine you must ban

A proud and simple song

 

The people fought for freedom

In Hong Kong’s angry streets

When China brought the hammer down

The world cried at their defeat

 

No one has shown more courage

Than the people of Hong Kong

Who rose up for their dignity

Their oppressor was dead wrong

 

Now China shows its weakness

By banning the people’s song

An insult to their legacy

All Glory to Hong Kong!

 

Democracy in Africa

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Democracy in Africa

 

For far too long in Africa

Democracy has been on the run

When corruption takes its toll

The ruling class is done

 

In Mali the people rise again

They grow tired of the madness

The military gave them promises

But delivered constant sadness

 

In Sudan the hatred deepens

The blood of holy war

They vote with their machetes

They kill to settle scores

 

Russia provides the weapons

China builds their dams

They need corrupt governments

Their elections are a sham

 

Still the time will surely come

When the people will demand

Their right to a fair democracy

The military be damned!