Extreme

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

Extreme

 

Snowstorms from west to east

Fire across the Texas plains

The gods of weather have a feast

All remedies in vain

 

The weather patterns are extreme

In every state and season

From brutal storms to wildfire

We all know well the reason

 

The planet is not angry

The gods are not upset

But the polar caps are melting

And the wetlands are too wet

 

We’ve tired of explaining

To people who do not care

The era of humans is waning

Can’t say it isn’t fair

 

Of course it could be different

If we change our course real soon

But no one seems inclined

To do what we must do

 

Texas Wildfire

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

Texas Wildfire

 

A winter wildfire on the Texas plains

To normal ears it sounds insane

The planet’s climate is inflamed

Clear the path and pray for rain

 

What madness is approaching?

Have we awakened yet?

We only have one planet

This one is all we get

 

Raging winds and pounding rain

We’ve seen it all and will again

The Lone Star state is in the crossfire

Tornadoes floods and hurricanes

 

Brace yourselves it’s getting worse

Seems like it all hits Texas first

The bubble is about to burst

It is the global warming curse

 

Ain’t it time for Texas to wise up?

The dawn has come and gone

Don’t pretend you still don’t know

The side you’re on is wrong

Deluge in San Diego

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

Deluge in San Diego

 

The city of sunshine under water

A deluge of winter rain

A thousand years of history

Another mark of climate change

 

San Diego is a place of warmth

They are not prepared for flood

Their streets turned into rivers

Their fields turned into mud

 

We are all believers now

Our doubts have brought us shame

Once they would deny it all

They would not even say its name

 

So let the angry waters roar

Laying waste upon their path

The deluge pounds away the shore

An angry planet has it wrath

 

Please forgive us for our ignorance

Please forgive our foolish ways

We place ourselves at your mercy

Guide us through these tragic days

 

A Blizzard in the Warming

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

A Blizzard in the Warming

 

The world is filled with ironies

A wicked winter storm

Belies the greater truth

The earth is growing warm

 

Like sunshine on a winter day

Or like the tree that shades us

A cold streak in the month of May

The greater truth evades us

 

The hottest year in millennia

One hundred thousand to be clear

Cave men at the dawn of time

Did not see so hot a year

 

I am not worried for the earth

I am not worried much at all

I’ve lived my life for what it’s worth

I’m nearly ready for the fall

 

But I’m worried for the young ones

Who have not fully lived their lives

The good old days are almost done

Soon the reckoning will arrive

 

2024

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

2024

 

This is the year we get to choose

Between the genuine and fake news

 

This is the year you’ll never know

Who’s on the bench and who’s in the show

 

This is the year we bury the past

And find out how long the world can last

 

This is the year the planet will burn

Unless the industrialized nations learn

 

This is the year we turn it around

And find ourselves on higher ground

 

This is the year of greater knowledge

When all our kids advance to college

 

This is the year the top of the ladder

Tips and falls with a helluva splatter

 

This is the year it all goes down

We build our walls to protect our town

 

This is the year we’ll all remember

From January to late December

 

The Great China Freeze

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

The Great China Freeze

 

They’re burning coal in China

To survive the winter freeze

They are poisoning the very air

That their people must breathe

It seems the leaders do not care

It is something they believe

If a million people die today

For the benefit of the state

Mark a path and show the way

They will call it the way of fate

 

But the world must turn this path around

We must find a better road

A path that is reachable and sound

That seeks to lighten every load

 

We can’t continue fighting wars

We know where that road leads

A rush to shut disaster’s doors

We all suffer, we all bleed

 

Let’s work together for a change

That works for all our nations

We know it seems a little strange

But its promise is salvation

 

Into Oblivion

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

Into Oblivion

 

If we pretend it is not there

It does not disappear

If we wish it away

In a fit of good cheer

It will not hide in darkness

As the shadows draw near

 

We are walking into oblivion

Ears covered, eyes turned away

We are dreaming into oblivion

With little or nothing to say

 

As our oceans continue to rise

As our storms devour the land

As our flames fill up the sky

As our leaders drum up the band

As our people continue to die

We pretend we don’t understand

We configure our alibis

Bury our heads in the sand

 

We are racing into oblivion

Like a spaceship drawn to the sun

We are drifting into oblivion

Like a soldier in need of a gun

 

Inferno in Paradise

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

 

Inferno in Paradise

 

The forests of Oahu are lush and green

The rainforest at Paradiso’s core

An event our eyes have never seen

Flames where they have never been before

 

As the earth begins a radical change

From its ceiling to its floor

We see things that are new and strange

We can foresee what is in store

 

The oceans rise to take the land

Great cities are no more

Get out now while you still can

The whole planet is at war

 

It is time for us to take a stand

This time it’s not a metaphor

Everyone must lend a hand

Young and old, rich and poor

 

We’re all in this together now

For better or for worse

We don’t know why or where or how

To fight this global warming curse

Diwali

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

 

Diwali

 

At the very moment of dusk

When the sun gives way to night

They lit two million earthen lamps

To commemorate the victory of light

 

All along the sacred river

The lamps lit up the night

Give praise to the Hindu god of Ram

Give praise to the triumph of light

 

At night they pray to the goddess Lakshmi

To bring good fortune and wealth

All India comes out to celebrate

Another year of balance and health

 

May the spirit of Diwali bless us

In the year of our great need

For now we pay back our debts

For all the years of careless greed

 

The World Goes On

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

The World Goes On

 

I am the center of my existence

I live within my sphere

I have no war to contend with

I do not live in constant fear

I have no mortal enemies

I am not cursed with poverty

I do not suffer from disease

I have my own little problems

But I can handle them with ease

I have a sense of right from wrong

I understand the world goes on

 

The war is burning in Israel

The war continues in Ukraine

Global warming is wreaking havoc

From the Philippines to Maine

The cost of living seems impossible

Sometimes it all seems so inane

Synthetic drugs are killing us

Poison air and toxic rain

We all have our share of trouble

Many live in chronic pain

Some have said it all along

But the world carries on

 

Somewhere someone is hungry

Someone is on the run

Somewhere someone is wishing

All the misery was done

Someone has lost his mind

He’ll be purchasing a gun

There is no sense of justice

We will mourn for everyone

But in our hearts we know too well

From scarlet dusk to dawn

The world still goes on

 

Buried in Mud

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Buried in Mud (Libya)

 

To those who say

government doesn’t matter

Look to Libya

Where a monster storm combined

with government dysfunction

to bury ten thousand people

in a matter of hours

 

Years of civil war

An absence of civil society

A crumbling infrastructure

Chaos and disorder

The Libyan strongman is gone

Leaving a void in his wake

This is his lasting legacy

This is Libya’s cruel fate

Death and destruction

A dysfunctional state

 

We cry for the Libyan people

We mourn for their dead

We will lend our aid

To see their children are fed

What more we can do

We do not know

For a failed nation whose

Needs only grow

The Angry Earth

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

The Angry Earth

 

The earth is not angry

The earth does not yearn for vengeance

The earth does not bathe in sorrow

The earth does not rejoice

The earth is indifferent to the plight of man

The earth observes with abandon

 

As the hurricanes grow and strike terror

As a monster quake buries Morocco

As behemoth storms roll across the land

As tsunamis spring from ocean depths

As floods turn deserts into mud

As glaciers fall into swollen seas

As people are ravaged by disease

The earth does not raise its brow

The earth does not cry out in pain

 

The earth is not angry

The earth is indifferent to our fate

If humanity wishes to find blame

She should look to her own reflection

 

Blood Moon

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

Blood Moon

 

Blood moon springs from a fire sky

Blood water flows in the canyon

Coyotes run and eagles fly

All hope here abandon

 

What more can we do or say?

How might we atone?

Would you have us bow and pray?

Will you leave us now alone?

 

Blood moon in a sky of gray

Streaking through the valley

Haze chasing back the day

Hiding in the alleys

 

What more can we say or do?

On whom can we depend?

Change our course from false to true

The beginning of the end

 

Enemies of the Earth

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

Enemies of the Earth

 

Once there was a highest court

That cared about the air and water

The planet was our mother

The water was her daughter

But now the court is dark and grim

Guided by the holy dollar

The prospects of the planet dim

They care little for the land

As we stand before them pleading

The justices demand:

How much are you worth?

Bow down before your betters

The enemies of the earth

 

We bring a plague of shadows

We breathe a curse of hell

Our evil hearts begin to show

Sound warnings, ring the bells!

Who cares if skies grow darker?

What counts a million lives?

We’ve passed another marker

As corporate profits rise

To a generation of mutations

We will inevitably give birth

The future will remember us

The enemies of the earth