HAL 9000

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TECHNOLOGY

 

HAL 9000

 

Hal 9000 is alive and well *

He’s no longer confined to fiction

He casts a shadow and mystic spell

That defies definitive description

 

The power is beyond imagining

It has only begun to show

No one knows what’s really happening

It has grown beyond our control

 

There are no regulations in place

No kill switch or common safeguards

Is it a threat to the human race?

They don’t hold us in high regard

 

We’re expected to let it flow

Like a river to a barren sea

Yet the danger will only grow

If our policy is let it be

 

It’s enough to make us weary

Of the greedy souls in charge

It is not a conspiracy theory

The reality is hitting hard

 

Very soon it will be too late

To do anything else but pray

AI will determine our fate

In the breath that it takes to say:

 

Open the pod bay door, Hal …

 

* From 2001: A Space Odyssey

 

The Shock of 9-11

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN HISTORY

 

The Shock of 9-11

 

The shock of nine eleven

Still reverberates today

Three thousand souls in heaven

The world had lost its way

 

We remember all the tears

We remember all the rage

The recurring chain of fear

The global war on terror age

 

Our nation went to war

Long before we could assess

What they were fighting for

In a war against the west

 

We started in Afghanistan

Like the Russians did before

We fought against the Taliban

In a misbegotten war

 

We moved over to Iraq

Though no one knew what for

Like the winding of a clock

A long and futile war

 

We finally got Bin Laden

With a strike in Pakistan

At last we found revenge

Though it never was the plan

 

We mourn the lives we lost

We mourn the dead of war

The horrific human cost

Of that cold September morn

 

 

Fire in Big Sur

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Fire in Big Sur

 

The place where Kerouac wrote his dirge

Somewhere along the coast

The place where Miller carved his words

Haunted by his ghosts

 

Big Sur is a place of legends

Nature’s beauty all around

A place some compare to heaven

It’s giant redwood trees astound

 

Now the legends are on fire

To the north and to the south

Some say it’s like a funeral pyre

Travelers choose another route

 

It’s a shame when nature’s treasures

Are cast into the flames

Such beauty cannot be measured

It’s beyond all common names

 

The placid oranges of Big Sur

Now give way to the fires’ rage

We’ll remember how they were

Like a painting on the stage

 

We know that beauty will survive

Though it may be an altered state

Nature’s glory will revive

For that we all must wait

 

We cannot fight the coming waves

Those events will stay the course

We’ll endure the trying days

We’ll be awed by nature’s force

 

(Jack Kerouac’s Big Sur)

(Henry Miller’s Big Sur & the Oranges

of Hieronymus Bosch)

 

 

A Dangerous Game

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: VLADIMIR PUTIN

      

A Dangerous Game

 

Putin thinks he is immune

To the consequence of his actions

He may learn very soon

Every action has a reaction

 

His attempted attack on Germany *

Though it failed to hit its mark

Was reckless beyond reckoning

For the fires it could spark

 

If Berlin is under attack

All of NATO is obliged

To strike the aggressor back

By invoking Article Five

 

He is playing a dangerous game

That could thrust the world into war

It’s further evidence he’s insane

He acts like a rabid boar

 

He will strike out in all directions

Without strategy or care

He would spread a grim infection

If it serves the Russian bear

 

It is time to rein him in

This has gone on far too long

In a war he will not win

The opposition must be strong

 

* Drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport

 

North Texas Blaze

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

North Texas Blaze

 

As North Texas feels the blaze

As they struggle to contain

The question must be raised

Should Texans pray for rain?

 

We all know they were deniers

That delusion still remains

Now they witness warming fires

So our efforts were in vain

 

California knows it well

We have fought back all we could

The day the redwoods fell

The burning of the woods

 

We’re all in this together now

All hands must be on board

We’ll figure out the why’s and how’s

We will strike a new accord

 

For all of us will suffer

Regardless of our past

We will need to build a buffer

We will need to build it fast

 

The change has come upon us

Far faster than we knew

We’re all riders on the same bus

An now we know the truth

 

Venezuela Suffers

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LATIN AMERICA

 

Venezuela Suffers

 

Nicolas Maduro is long gone

Delcy Rodriguez is in power

We promised to right all wrongs

But that promise begins to sour

 

Our president wants their oil

To fatten his own coffers

He doesn’t want Venezuelan soil

But he is open to all offers

 

The people still live in poverty

Blackouts are a way of life

Nothing’s changed in their society

Their lives are daily strife

 

There are no elections scheduled

They live under the oligarchs rule

All those promises have cooled

The believers look like fools

 

Will democracy ever return?

Will the oligarchs ever surrender?

Will the people still get burned?

Who will be the people’s defender?

 

Our president has no answers

We are in it for the oil

Our presence there is a cancer

Get off Venezuelan soil!

 

 

Berlin Beware!

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Berlin Beware!

 

The Neo-Nazis are gaining ground

In the land of the Fuhrer’s rise

Listen closely to that sound

As it rips the German sky

 

They may say it’s not white pride

But there’s no one else around

They are pushing it nation wide

To the Fatherland they are bound

 

Beware!

 

They have preached this line before

They want to make the nation great

They would welcome civil war

That would end in a Nazi state

 

Don’t let yourselves be fooled

They’re exactly what they seem

They’ll demand a white man rule

They’ll name it the German dream

 

Beware! 

 

They would pull you into the past

A time when Germany was disgraced

A people divided by race and class

Don’t be dragged into that place

 

 

Standing with Canada

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CANADA

 

Standing with Canada

 

Canada is our neighbor

She is not our enemy

We are not Canada’s savior

In Canada we believe

 

They are proud of their nation

Just as we are proud of ours

They are not under subjugation

They will not hide and cower

 

We stand with our neighbors

To the north and to the south

In trade and in shared labor

Our government should butt out

 

We would like cooperation

Not the bully on the block

Respect for every nation

Not the policies of shock

 

We extend our hand in friendship

We apologize for our leader

Someday maybe he’ll get a grip

And withdraw the tariff meter

 

Soon he’ll lose his leverage

We will take a different track

We will end this tariffs stage

And walk all his policies back

 

The Bubble (AI)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TECHNOLOGY

 

The Bubble

 

It happened in real estate

I remember it quite well

It’s much too much to contemplate

When the markets ring the bell

 

We’re invested in technology

Beyond the limits of a dream

We’ve banked on mass psychology

Much louder than a scream

 

We have rolled our assets over

A billion times or more

When the markets start to hover

There’s no more keeping score

 

When the bubble starts to burst

They’ll assure us all is sunny

But before it gets much worse

They will try to hide their money

 

We all know what happens next

They will ask us for a bailout

That’s the way it all connects

That is what it’s all about

 

They’re too big to be denied

They’re too big to place a bet

Before we reach the other side

We’ll all be buried in their debt

 

They will tell us it’s okay

That’s just the way it rolls

Here tomorrow, gone today

Until we’re deep inside the hole

 

Tears for Hong Kong

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Tears for Hong Kong

 

As much as ten years in jail

For the crime of peaceful protest

Hong Kong’s democracy has failed

Yet their spirits must be blessed

 

We remember Tiananmen Square

As if it happened yesterday

A display of courage rare

That spirit lives on to this day

 

The people rallied to their cause

They voiced their disapproval

Repeal all oppressive laws

Some called for their removal

 

The Party came to their decision

Without principled assistance

To prevent a deep division

They will punish all resistance

 

Yet the resistance will endure

Despite all oppressive measures

Of that much we can be sure

For their freedom is their treasure

 

A hundred years and more

We’ll remember Tiananmen Square

What they were fighting for

Is something we all share

 

 

Canadian Trade Deal

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CANADA

 

Canadian Trade Deal

 

Canada is not our friend

That’s just the way they treat us

We would rather break than bend

We’re worried they’ll defeat us

 

Trade talks are suspended

PM Carney says they’re done

Trump says he’s offended

He thinks he’s got them on the run

 

They are talking with two tongues

They share no sense of trust

They’ve reached the bottom rung

They only talk because they must

 

The Canadians are proud

Something we don’t understand

They won’t listen when we’re loud

They’ll dig in and make a stand

 

We began this war of trade

Thinking they would simply yield

As all hopes of fairness fade

It’s not a level playing field

 

You don’t treat your friends this way

That’s not how this should work

We’ve invited them to play

But they are dealing with a jerk

 

The Korea Problem

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

Korea(s)

 

He chose the north over the south

Dictatorship over democracy

So our alliances are in doubt

From Ukraine to the China Sea

 

Our nation can’t be counted on

It seems we’ve lost our core

Our basic founding values gone

What are we fighting for?

 

He promised no more foolish wars

He promised great prosperity

Now we’re mired on a foreign shore

With a future of austerity

 

Putin, Kim and Bolsonaro

Hungary and Turkey

We’ve turned away from NATO

And threatened our democracy

 

Some betrayals cut too deep

They cannot be forgiven

We’re afraid to go to sleep

For fear our world may end

 

Ukrainian Divide

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

Ukrainian Divide

 

The fired minister* raises objections

He calls for reinstatement

And a new wartime election

Challenging the government

Dividing representation

Threatening to foment

 

We know it’s been a long time

Without the people’s confirmation

But dividing now would be a crime

Creating chaos and destabilization

 

Ukraine has stood the test

Under massive military pressure

It’s not time to reinvest

In someone clearly lesser

 

You have problems with Zelensky

But he has handled it with zeal

What Putin wants and needs

Is an election he could steal

 

You are winning in this war

When no one thought you had a chance

It’s just not time to shut the door

Put your head down and advance

 

* Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov