Viva Lula and Brazil!

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: BRAZIL

 

Viva Lula and Brazil!

 

Lula da Silva does it again

Brazil is the better for it

Social democracy claims the win

Avoiding the rightwing pit

 

They flirted with autocracy

They were lucky to overcome

They held on to democracy

When Lula da Silva won

 

Now a brighter future calls

And the left must answer square

Tear down the oppressor’s walls

By treating all people fair

 

They wanted exploitation

Of the forests and the land

Now they’re a better nation

Since Lula made his stand

 

Brazil has made her choice

To uphold the people’s rights

To hear each and every voice

For that is worth the fight

 

Viva Lula and Brazil

The revolution has prevailed

This victory is real

Let’s hope they never fail

 

(Sadly, Lula unexpectedly lost the first 

round of elections. The future is in doubt.)

 

On Democracy

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DEMOCRACY

 

On Democracy

 

Without freedom of speech

You do not have a democracy

You may have an autocracy

Without the sea there is no beach

 

Without freedom of the press

The people are not informed

Your country should be warned

You are democratic less

 

Without the right to protest

You don’t have a republic

Your public forums are sick

It’s a pillar of the west

 

Without protection of due process

Your democracy has failed

Your opponents can be jailed

You do not pass the test

 

Without free and fair elections

You are only a pretender

A civil rights offender

Destined for correction

 

Without independent courts

Your freedom is not real

You are subject to the steal

Your efforts come up short

 

A democracy takes time

It must be zealously protected

Attacks must be rejected

It’s a stubborn state of mind

 

 

Forever War

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR

 

Forever War

 

We are thrust into forever war

From east to west, from shore to shore

As warlords try their best to score

We protest: war no more

 

Putin lets his people down

Condemned to live in poverty

He’s planted thousands in the ground

He will leave a deadly legacy

 

Netanyahu never has enough

He wants forever war

He doesn’t care if life is rough

His inner lion roars

 

These wars are like a cancer

They spread like wildfire

They do not want an answer

The warlords never tire

 

It’s time the people intervened

There is no other way

Let protest be forever seen

Every night and every day

 

The ballot box in Tel Aviv

Mass resistance across Moscow

The warlords must be forced to leave

The time to act is now

 

 

Leaving Iraq

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IRAQ

 

Leaving Iraq

 

At long last we are leaving Iraq

Joe Biden gave the order

No one knows when we’ll be back

Iran is on the border

 

We were there to fight the Islamic State

Or so the handbook says

Now we will have to delegate

The blue coats leave the rez

 

Iraq was a disastrous war

An act of reckless ambition

Someday we’ll be back for more

To lose another war of attrition

 

It’s a story old as Roman days

The conquerors and crusades

It’s as if there is no other way

Our memory seems to fade

 

We’ll do it all again someday

We will start a fool’s endeavor

Some president will want to play

Despite our cries of Never!

 

It comes with too much power

To place in one man’s hands

Ambition claims the hour

The want of another’s land

 

Enemies and Friends

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CHINA

 

Enemies and Friends

 

China is not our enemy

But she is not our friend

She reminds us what we want to be

On democracy depends

 

She has billions in cheap labor

Yet she’s progressing over time

She is not a gracious neighbor

There are mountains she must climb

 

She does not need our trade

But with it she has prospered

With the profits she has made

She’ll be receiving offers

 

We can help her moving forward

But not without conditions

We’ll both give our solemn word

We won’t alter our positions

 

Taiwan remains independent

Despite Chinese demands

Just like Canada and Greenland

A message must be sent

 

We can work it out together

Without bitterness or war

The future will be better

If we’d give a little more

 

 

October 7 Revisited

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GAZA WAR

 

October 7 Revisited

 

Shame on Netanyahu

To deny the obvious truth

There is little doubt he knew

And yet what did he do?

 

He withdrew from the border

His troops were unprepared

It was him who gave the orders

His generals wouldn’t dare

 

He was warned by the Emirates

He was warned by Egypt too

As for Israeli intelligence

It is all too clear they knew

 

He gave Hamas a pass

So that he could wage his war

It happened hard and fast

And it opened up the door

 

So many innocents dies that day

The torture, rape and killing

Inhumanity was on display

The effect was cold and chilling

 

Netanyahu swore revenge

In a new forever war

This hatred would never end

Like a dagger to the core

 

Could he have taken action?

He didn’t raise a hand

His party split in factions

We could never understand

 

Russia V. NATO

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: NATO

 

Russia Versus NATO

 

As Russia threatens Europe’s land

The question will arise

Will America back the NATO ban

When missiles start to fly?

 

It is a simple question

That doesn’t have a simple answer

Has our leader learned a lesson

Or will he just engage in banter?

 

Would the US be expelled

From the free world’s great alliance?

When it’s clear that we have failed

In an act of pure defiance

 

An attack on one is an attack on all

So it says in Article Five

Will America be the first to fall

From the wall of the allied?

 

Putin seems determined

To test our strength of will

The Polish, French and Germans

Are feeling America’s chill

 

The world would realign

With the absence of our force

The future would unwind

On a strained and different course

 

 

Bravo Mark Carney!

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CANADA

 

Bravo Mark Carney

 

Prime Minister Mark Carney

Stood tall and strong in the Hague

He declared his case for liberty

On the biggest European stage

 

The United States under Donald Trump

Has betrayed our closest allies

He faced a choice to take the lumps

Or to be stronger, smarter, wise

 

His word were proudly spoken

Of common principles and foundations

He spoke of his true devotion

To his people and his nation

 

Our president may forsake it

But he has pushed them to this act

Now he’ll have to grin and take it

Or accelerate his attack

 

Canada will stand up strong

They have given us fair warning

They’ve put up with him far too long

Now we awaken to a new morning

 

It’s the only way to deal with him

The biggest bully on the block

Rise up and his light will dim

He is running out the clock

 

The Fuehrer's Berlin

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP

 

The Fuehrer’s Berlin

 

The fuehrer had elaborate plans

For the remaking of Berlin

A reimagining so far beyond grand

To immortalize the Nazi win

 

He used imprisoned labor

French prisoners, jews and gypsies

To build tributes to their savior

Under the watch of Nazi police

 

A triumphant arch so huge

It made small the arch in Paris

Lost in the allies deluge

We’ve forgotten the fuehrer’s kiss

 

His ego could not be contained

He imagined himself on a throne

All other kings would be plain

He would rise above them alone

 

The fuehrer saw it all in a dream

Just as someone sees it today

He would be the king of all kings

And to him the people would pray

 

Russian Elections

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RUSSIA

 

Russian Elections

 

An election in Mother Russia

Is like a mandatory convention

Voters show up because they must

Despite their contrary intentions

 

Putin banned the opposition

Those opposed to the war in Ukraine

Their votes are cast in derision

Though they know the war’s insane

 

What point is there in voting

When there is no chance of change?

When your vote is just promoting

A leader who’s deranged?

 

The times cry out for protests

In every town and city square

Though they’ll be subject to arrest

Let them know the people care

 

They have buried many martyrs

They’ve imprisoned thousands more

You’re the stick Navalny stirred

You know Putin’s keeping score

 

There can be no election days

When the ballot is impaired

Let us call it mass resistance day

Let there be protests everywhere

 

 

A New Alliance

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CANADA

 

A New Alliance

 

America’s loss is Europe’s gain

(if America is the United States)

While our relationship is feeling strained

The Europeans are feeling great

 

Our president wants to own them

Convert them to the 51^st state

He regards them as a northern gem

If only they’d cooperate

 

Canada has a different notion

An alliance with another union

Terms of agreement are in motion

Soon the deal will be done

 

Europe’s gain is America’s loss

A wider sphere of influence

They want a partner, not a boss

A measure of their defiance

 

They’ll try again when Trump is gone

They are tired trying to please him

They’ll wait until the coming dawn

Til then they’ll just release him

 

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)