The Day that Shook the World

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

The Day that Shook the World

 

We should have seen it coming

The writing was on the wall

The day that shook the world

May be the day that we fall

 

Europe stands on edge

Ukraine is on the line

NATO is forming contingencies

For a world that is realigned

 

Vladimir Putin wears a smile

That will last until tomorrow

The dictators are in ecstasy

The free world is in sorrow

 

A new age has begun

Filled with worry and despair

The autocrats are in power

And corporations do not care

 

About the warming of the planet

About protecting human rights

About the fall of a republic

We watch it vanish from our sight

 

Berlin Lament

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Berlin Lament

 

The rise of the right in Germany

Makes us wonder where decency went

Their success in the recent elections

Has us singing the Berlin lament

 

It reminds us we can never rest

We must always be on guard

To face the latest fascist test

To stand up though it may be hard

To put forth our democratic best

While they play the racist card

 

We applaud our fellows in Germany

Who rise in democracy’s defense

We must never yield to their pressure

Lest we sing the Berlin lament

 

France is France Again

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

France is France Again

 

The voice of France has risen

France is France again

A unity of disparate parties

Has defeated Marine Le Pen

 

There’s a lesson in this for all of us

Who are facing a similar choice

The way to defeat the extremist right

Is to find a united voice

 

They vilify the “others”

They exploit the people’s fears

They claim to have the answers

As the end of days draws near

 

But there answer is a power grab

That elevates their own

They dismantle your republic

And build a fascist throne

 

All of France can celebrate

But we must stand on guard

It’s easy to lose democracy

Maintaining it is hard

 

Mass Deportations

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Mass Deportation

 

Round em up and head em out

The dark-skinned ones

The undocumented

The ones without bankable skills

The ones without employment

The ones who lack insurance

The one who have no bank accounts

 

Round em up and head em out

By the hundreds and the thousands

On the streets and in the cities

In the alleys and the homeless camps

In the pubs and in the fields

Filling jobs that no one wants

At less than living wages

Under less than decent conditions

 

Round em up and head em out

When they’re no longer useful

When they’ve spent their last buck

When the boss can’t make the payroll

When they cost more than they’re worth

When politicians need a scapegoat

When there’s no one else to blame

 

It’s an old game

Use them and abuse them

Like cattle on the range

Until the crops have been gathered

And the harvest is all done

Round em up and head em out

Until next year … 

 

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

 

New Bohemia

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

New Bohemia

 

Bohemia is not a place in Europe

Bohemia is a state of mind

A place where art and artists reign

Where no endeavor is more valued

Than the creation of a work of art

Where thoughts appear in song

Where dance is in the wind

Where each street is a poem

And every building a sculpture

 

Bohemia is a place in the heart

Where no one is afraid to speak

And everyone agrees: Freedom is

As necessary as food, air and water

Where the needs of all are tended to

Where the ambitions of politicians

Are set aside like yesterday’s news

 

Bohemia is a place of growing

Where a child is taught to follow dreams

Where every person has a purpose

Where no dream is too small

Where no vision is too large

Where the struggle burns within

The search for truth and meaning

The fulfillment of the soul

 

Bohemia is not a place in Europe

It is a state of mind

Where every individual is driven

To be creative and kind

A Vote for War

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Antiwar Vote

 

Do not be fooled into thinking that

A vote for Trump is a vote for peace

For while Trump would surrender Ukraine

War would envelop the Middle East

 

He has no knowledge of our alliances

On which our security depends

Netanyahu is sworn to war forever

And he is Trump’s sworn friend

 

A vote for Trump is a vote for Vlad

A vote for Vlad is a vote for war

All of Europe trembles at the thought

Of the horrors that lie in store

 

After Russia conquers Ukraine

At a cost of a million lives

He will take aim at Sweden

And Poland may not survive

 

So if you wish to vote for peace

Know well who you’re voting for

A vote for Trump is a vote for Putin

A vote for Putin is a vote for war

 

Orban the Horrible

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Orban the Horrible

 

Something is rotten in Budapest

Europe is going insane

NATO is doing the best it can

Let’s trade Hungary for Ukraine

 

Ever since Orban ascended

We have suffered from his reign

Now he stands in the way of progress

Let’s trade Hungary for Ukraine

 

The European Union

Must stand for something plain

The basic right of democracy

Let’s trade Hungary for Ukraine

 

Orban is a Putin ally

His mark on the map is stained

Serve notice to every tyrant

Trade Hungary for Ukraine

 

We hold nothing against the people

Condemnation we must refrain

Reclaim you democratic ways or

Trade Hungary for Ukraine

 

Mass Murder in Bohemia

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Mass Murder in Bohemia

 

The ratatatat of murder

Splits the scene in the city of bridges

City of Kafka, Dubcek and Havel

Destroying the Christmas calm

Shattering the peace

A lone gunman with a submachine gun

A weapon meant for war

A killer of many humans

A reaper of death in numbers

 

He opened fire on his fellow students

As if it was a war zone

As if it was Gaza or Bakhmut

As if he sought revenge for the killing

Of his people, his friends, his family

But he was not a soldier

He was the killer of his father

He was the killer of his friends

As if he had friends

But a mass murderer has no friends

He traded them for weapons

He bartered them for blood

 

To those who thought this could not

Happen in Europe

That only foreign terrorists could strike

At the heart of European peace

That Europeans would not kill their own

In numbers greater than one

You were wrong

 

Prague is a victim of the American disease

The unfettered right to carry arms

The availability of killing machines

Now Bohemia must decide how many

Lives the right to arms is worth

Weapons of war

Armor piercing bullets

Weapons of mass destruction

How many lives are they worth?

The Fall of Europe

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

The Fall of Europe

 

What began in the United Kingdom

Like a virus spread to Spain

Italy, Greece and the Netherlands

In the balance lies Ukraine

 

Vladimir plays his poison hand

Deftly if not with grace

His agents in the Netherlands

Put on a nationalist face

 

He is taking Europe one by one

He is picking it apart

Soon the union may be done

As a madman works his art

 

We are trading in our values

To shelter us from fear

A wave of dark migration

We will pay a price in tears

 

When you let a rodent in your house

They will lay your cupboards bare

They’ll take more than you have to give

Too late! They’re everywhere!

 

The Future of Europe

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DEMOCRACY

The Future of Europe

 

John McCain is turning in his grave

His Grand Old Party is Putin’s slave

What horrors do we have in store?

The republic betrayed to its core

 

If they fail to fund the war in Ukraine

Who will stop the dictator’s train

That runs through Poland to Denmark?

The future of Europe begins to look stark

 

No one wishes to foment war

But we ask what is worth fighting for?

Do we stand for freedom and democracy

Or do we bow down before autocracy?

 

The time has come to raise a voice

We are given a clear, decisive choice

Will we stand with liberty in this fight

Or do we yield knowing it is not right?

 

The only path to a lasting peace

Is a path that rolls from west to east

Put the wannabe emperor in his place

To the great relief of the human race

 

Leader of the Free World

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

Failure to fund the war in Ukraine

A war of bold aggression

A struggle for independence

A war Russia started but we sustained

Threatens to topple the Free World Order

 

Since the end of the second World War

We have led the way

We have made tragic mistakes

The war in Vietnam

The Contras in Nicaragua

Chile’s Augusto Pinochet

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

We have never turned our backs

We have never lost our purpose

We have lost our way but not our cause

 

Now we are about to abandon our role

As the leader of the Free World

Now we are about to abdicate

By failing to honor our sacred obligation

We are betrayed by a turncoat faction

More loyal to a former president

Than to the principles of democracy

 

The fate of Ukraine is in our hands

We must now call on Europe to lead

We must now yield our leadership

Will Europe rise to the challenge?

Will her support be sufficient?

We cannot know

Will we awaken in time to save Ukraine?

We can only hope

If we fail in this cause

We become a lesser nation

But Ukraine becomes no nation at all