A Dagger to the Heart

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

Dagger

 

Ukraine is desperate for supplies

Among them interceptors

To clear missiles from their skies

With defenders and detectors

 

But they were shipped to the Saud’s

To the Emirates and Bahrain

To defend against “the gods”

Instead of fighting for Ukraine

 

We let them fight the Russian beast

As if we didn’t have a stake

We helped Zelensky fight the least

We let go for Putin’s sake

 

We’re running short of munitions

All the experts will explain

Along with chronic indecision

We’ve betrayed brave Ukraine

 

And yet they found a way to fight

Against all odds with Europe’s aid

Knowing they were in the right

Knowing Trump was being played

 

Who among us did not see

That Netanyahu was insane?

This war for the Israelis

Is a dagger to the heart of Ukraine

 

 

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

 

Berlin Pride

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: INTOLERANCE

 

Berlin Pride

 

Berlin is no stranger

To an extremist point of view

The Germans recognize the danger

As few other nations do

 

When a man attacked a rally

That celebrated pride

They did not wait for a tally

Of those on the other side

 

Intolerance is wrong

No matter how it is painted

A nation only of the “strong”

We know well how it is tainted

 

Berlin will remain on guard

For acts of terror from the right

They have seen the racial card

In a most horrific light

 

It’s a reminder to us all

That the darkness lies in wait

Sometimes it is a wall

Sometimes we see it too late

 

For hate will find a home

Where it is allowed to grow

In Jerusalem or Rome

East Berlin and Chicago know

 

Andy Burnham on Downing Street

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GREAT BRITAIN

 

Andy Burnham on Downing Street

 

Keir Starmer has gone away

You might say we hardly knew him

He was anointed only yesterday

But the stiff demands outgrew him

 

Now Andy Burnham takes his place

At Number 10 Downing Street

Yet his manner has no grace

He will soon face his defeat

 

Great Britain has its homelessness

Its immigration and inflation

Its waning leadership in the west

A lost and wandering nation

 

It left the continent behind

Brexit fairly spelled its doom

One wonders what they had in mind

A future dimmed with gloom?

 

But the people wanted change

And change is what they got

The island nation is estranged

What you get is what you wrought

 

 

Apology to Spain

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: EUROPE

 

Apology to Spain

 

We apologize to Spain

For our president’s rude demand

Let’s make more than plain

That’s not the people’s stand

 

We value Spanish sovereignty

Her people and her place

Her legacy and dignity

Her balance and her grace

 

We know that Spain will not bow down

To our president’s command

She will proudly stand her ground

She will always lend a hand

 

All of Europe has her back

She will never stand alone

For the Union will not crack

No matter how much he groans

 

He is not the King of the West

Though he may believe he is

As our history will attest

The future is not his

 

(Trump demands an end to

trade with Spain)

 

Reluctant Ally (NATO)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: NATO

 

Reluctant Ally 

 

The alliance is no stronger

Than the weakest of her links

When common purpose is no longer

The alliance slowly sinks

 

We are a grudging ally

A partner from afar

The rules of conduct don’t apply

When this is where we are

 

He rails against all members

Who do not shower him with praise

Every slight he will remember

His fickle mood becomes a craze

 

He pleads for their assistance

In a losing cause of war

When faced with strong resistance

We can hear his hollow roar

 

It comes down to the Strait

He can’t believe it isn’t ours

The alliances must wait

As we recalculate the powers

 

If the US does not lead

The vacuum will be filled

Europe’s working at light speed

With renewed strength of will

 

 

Starmer Steps Down

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Starmer Steps Down

 

Who would have guessed?

Touched by the Epstein scandal

Even Starmer had to confess

It was more than the Brits could handle

 

Will the Labour Party fall

In their former leader’s wake?

They will answer to Burnham’s call *

To take on Farage’s quake *

 

Will the Kingdom turn rightwing?

Will they try that path again?

They would promise most anything

To depart from where they’ve been

 

It seems the British are indecisive

They don’t quite know where to turn

Every policy seems divisive

Systemic change is what they yearn

 

Embrace Europe or stay apart?

Increase distance from the States?

Where is the Kingdom’s heart?

Where lies the British fate?

 

Hold on to your convictions

Don’t let them pull you down

Here is a bold prediction

Labour holds its ground

 

* Andy Burnham, Labour MP

* Nigel Farage, Reform Party

 

(Keir Starmer resigns as British PM)

 

The Silence of America

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  UKRAINE

 

The Silence of America

 

As Russia launched a devastating attack

Into the beating heart of Ukraine

Zelensky pleaded with the world to strike back

To make their collective outrage plain

 

London, Berlin and the European Union

Condemned the blatant escalation

The free world stood in communion

All except one lonely nation

 

The silence of America was loud

Like a shot in the quiet of night

Vladimir Putin must have been proud

He has silenced America’s might

 

The world must revise its alliance

NATO and all free nations

In light of America’s silence

They can hardly expect salvation

 

They know that this can’t last forever

This aversion to freedom’s cause

The nation from its roots is severed

Not forever but just for a pause

 

America will be herself again

We can only wait and pray

Greater than we’ve ever been

A nation that will not stray

 

 

Around the World

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  THE RESISTANCE

 

Around the World

 

We’re pulling troops from Germany

We’ve putting them in Poland

Berlin becomes our frenemy

Greenland becomes our No Land

 

Putin follows Trump to Beijing

They’re losing their respective wars

Britain travels on our wing

We still don’t know what for

 

The King addressed our Commons House

He set our leaders straight

The opposition party was aroused

You can’t lead this world with hate

 

Our president goes back on attack

Now he wants two billion bucks

Republicans at last push back

This time he’s out of luck

 

The ever-shifting goals of war

Are looking worse and worse

We’d like it like it was before

We’ve heard the people curse

 

The Pope is speaking out for peace

Our president is incensed

He wouldn’t give the Pope a feast

His patience has been spent

 

The world is standing up as one

For peace and human rights

This reign of horrors must be done

It’s time to stand and fight

 

 

Starmer V. Farage

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: BRITAIN

 

Starmer V. Farage

 

Farage won this round

But the battle is not done

The European side is down

But the war has not been won

 

Starmer will hold steady

In a parliament of many

The old guard is not ready

To change the euro for the penny

 

Two opposing parties is insufficient

To express the people’s will

The entire system is deficient

Like a mountain for a hill

 

The young will push ahead

The old will fade away

A reunion will be bred

They’ll regret the day they strayed

 

The party leader may be new

Yet the cause remains the same

Britain yearns for Europe too

In something more than just a name

 

A New Britain

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: BRITAIN

 

A New Britain

 

The duopoly is breaking down

Great Britain will survive

Other parties have staked their ground

A multiparty system will thrive

 

Reform is the biggest winner

The Labour party is the loser

They’ve defeated all the sinners

And made Starmer out a boozer

 

Their democracy will endure

Though it may take a different form

Parliamentary to be sure

Without the two-party scorn

 

It’s hard times for those in power

With inflation and the rest

If you are in the ivory tower

You did not pass the test

 

Will the change be everlasting?

No one really knows for sure

The system may have need blasting

As a farmer needs fresh manure

 

Britannia Rising

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Britannia Rising

 

Our most loyal of all friends

Has risen in objection

That friendship is at an end

Until the next election

 

We went to war alone

Netanyahu not withstanding

The crude harshness of our tone

The lack of understanding

 

All of Europe stands apart

They’ve refused to go along

For diplomacy is an art

That our president gets wrong

 

We demand that they close ranks

Though they never had a say

We’d like them to say thanks

For what we did yesterday

 

But this is a brutal war

Netanyahu got it wrong

It is rotten to the core

And Britain will not go along

 

 

Budapest Awakening

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ORBAN

 

Budapest Awakening

 

Orban goes down to defeat

Putin’s cause is derailed

Peter Magyar takes his seat

The dictatorship has failed

 

The great alliance is restored

All of Europe is relieved

With Russia knocking on her door

The message is received

 

Budapest will hold the line

After sixteen years of iron rule

Democracy will do just fine

They won’t play Putin’s fool

 

Hungary has made it clear

With the west they are allied

No longer will they live in fear

They’ve taken back their pride

 

For now the world’s a better place

The autocrats have lost one

Tomorrow there’s another race

The fight for freedom’s just begun

 

 

War Fever

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR

 

War Fever

 

War is like a fever

It rises and it spreads

When she speaks we believe her

In her wickedness and dread

 

From Israel to Lebanon

From Tehran to the Strait

She whispers and you’re gone

The reach of war is great

 

She tugs at all of Europe

The price of oil spreads the pain

The costs are going up and up

From the Emirates to Ukraine

 

Once you start a war it rages

Like a spiral out of sight

A scourge upon the ages

Until she saps your will to fight

 

The besieged people of Iran

They were slaughtered by their leaders

Now they’re dying from our bombs

Some were fooled by the deceivers

 

When the fever takes her toll

She will break a thousand hearts

She will pierce your very soul

She will tear your world apart