Sedition in Hong Kong

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Sedition in Hong Kong

 

Sedition in Hong Kong

Is daring to act like a journalist

 

Sedition in Hong Kong

Is daring to criticize Beijing

 

Once there was hope of freedom

Freedom of speech

Freedom of assembly

Freedom to march the streets in protest

Freedom to publish your views

 

That hope was brutally attacked

By the officers of oppression

 

Now they jail journalists

Now they serve warning to all

Who would ever dare oppose them

 

They don’t know the history of resistance

They don’t know the power of the people

It may take a decade of resistance

It may take a century of defiance

But the people will not forget

The people will not give in

They will find a way forward

They will find the path to freedom

They will march toward democracy

Step by step, year after year

Decade after decade

Until at last they prevail

 

(Stand News editors Chung Pui-kuen

and Patrick Lam sentence to prison.)

 

Dissent in Hong Kong

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Dissent in Hong Kong

 

There is no joy on the streets of Hong Kong

There is no discourse at all

There are martyr’s tears for Helena Wong *

Among the chosen to take the fall

 

A conspiracy to commit subversion

A trumped-up charge if ever there was

They claim the right to imprison anyone

No matter what one says or does

 

They stood for the right to public protest

They stood for Hong Kong’s independence

They face a lifetime behind cold bars

They were hardly allowed a defense

 

Today in Hong Kong you have no rights

Except for the right to silence

If you want to speak or raise a sign

Beijing’s answer is always violence

 

* Found guilty of Draconian security law

   (along with thirteen others).

   

Banning a Song (Hong Kong)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Banning a Song

 

Your stranglehold on power

Is something less than strong

When you determine you must ban

A proud and simple song

 

The people fought for freedom

In Hong Kong’s angry streets

When China brought the hammer down

The world cried at their defeat

 

No one has shown more courage

Than the people of Hong Kong

Who rose up for their dignity

Their oppressor was dead wrong

 

Now China shows its weakness

By banning the people’s song

An insult to their legacy

All Glory to Hong Kong!

 

Hong Kong Lament

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DEMOCRACY

 

Hong Kong Lament

 

If you’d like to see what the future holds

Take a good long look at Hong Kong

When democracy is bought and sold

The future won’t be long

 

In the name of law and order

Dissent defined as treason

If you live under the oppressor’s thumb

You don’t give them a reason

 

To speak your mind in any setting

Is to take a giant chance

There are many who are suffering

For taking a dissident stance

 

If you think it could not happen here

Consider the choice we face

An elder and an autocrat

The choice is a disgrace

 

Choose one and it’s a gamble

Choose the other and it’s assured

The sound of freedom running

Will be the last thing that we heard

 

Days of Freedom

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Days of Freedom

 

There was a time we walked the streets

Free and easy like a charm

No one could tell us where to go

No one could do us any harm

Now they stop us everywhere

To rob us of our peace

To steal away our memories

Of the days when we were free

 

Like a lover from our dreams

Like a hero in a song

The days of freedom linger

We will miss her when she’s gone

 

We will take a vow of memory

A promise never to forget

The days when we were free

The nights when we first met

We held on for our lives

Like we were riders on a jet

They sang of us in Singapore

It rang across the sea

Always we’ll remember

The days when we were free

 

Like a lover in a dream

Like a hero in a song

The days of freedom linger

We will miss her when she’s gone

 

(for Democracy in Hong Kong)

 

Tam of Hong Kong

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

Tam of Hong Kong

 

We sing of Tam Tak-chi

We mourn the death of democracy

Imprisoned for speaking her mind

and opposing Chinese autocracy

 

We sing of freedom and pride

We sing the song of Tam

We will march by her side

Though they may not give a damn

 

They will lock her behind bars

They will silence every voice

Yet we will sing wide and far

Until we are given a choice

 

Tell everyone you know and see

That sings the song of liberty

Oppression is the legacy

Of China’s president Xi