The Border

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IMMIGRATION

The Border

 

They had a chance to defend the border

They chose a spectacle instead

They impeached a civil servant

Turning justice on its head

 

They take their people for fools

Who believe anything they’re told

They think obstinance will rule

But their act is getting old

 

They did nothing for the border

Just to give their boss a chance

They push for chaos and disorder

Every time they take a stance

 

This is the way they’ll govern

They will not do anything

When an election rolls around

They’ll do a dance and sing

 

We hate them just like you do

Nothing else really matters

The rich are getting richer

Fat cats are getting fatter

 

America First

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

America First

 

There are those in the party of Lincoln *

Who loudly proclaim America First!

But when it comes to serving the nation

Their record could hardly be worse

 

Given a choice to protect the border

At the cost of supporting Ukraine

They turn their back on both causes

Like trading the wheat for the grain

 

The truth has now become clear

It’s not America first at all

For in the balance of global relations

Russia’s rise is America’s fall

 

We have witnessed a dark infiltration

Of our hallowed congressional halls

The subversion of our great nation

As support for our ally stalls

 

Who butters your bread Mister Johnson? **

Who tells you what you must do?

Do you know to whom he answers?

And whether his cause is true?

 

* Pre Civil War Republicans

** Speaker of the House

Ecuador

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Ecuador

 

Ecuador is a lawless state

A hostile takeover by drug cartels

A legacy of corruption

Transformed a nation into hell

 

Ecuador is a sinking ship

It has signaled its distress

To fight against the drug lords

She needs the armies of the west

 

We are in an age when nations

Are no longer strong enough

To fight back against the cartels

That have become military tough

 

This is greater than any nation

It goes beyond mere law and order

It is a metastasizing monster

That crosses every border

 

If you want to solve the problem

Join together in full force

Fight against a common foe

And over time hold the course

 

Dust Bowl Emigre

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN HISTORY

Dust Bowl Émigré

 

This rich and fertile valley

Was made on the backs of émigré

Not from somewhere below the border

Nor from Ireland or Eastern Europe

Not from Canada or Germany

Nor Australia or the Far East

The ones who answered the call

To work the orchards and fields

To till the soil and work the land

To pick the peaches, oranges and nuts

To bring the crops to market

Were the poor white folks of Oklahoma

The tenant farmer of the Dust Bowl

As hard a worker who ever lived

They came by hard luck highways

Their belongings packed on old cars

That broke down along the way

 

When they overcame all hardships

And finally arrived in the Golden State

They were called disgraceful names

Okies and Arkies and dirt farmers

Who came to take our good jobs

To steal our women and commit mayhem

To ruin the state the gold diggers built

But they didn’t take our good jobs

They took what others wouldn’t do

They didn’t steal our women

They didn’t crimes or mayhem

Any more than anyone else did

They were good hard-working people

Poor as dirt but grim determined

They had no place else to go

They became the good citizens

Of the great central valley

Along with others of darker skin

Also good hard-working people

Together they built the foundations

Of the great state of Golden Gate

 

Ironic ain’t it? that the very same people

Who were derided and abused yesterday

Deride and abuse others today

Killing Migrants

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IMMIGRATION

Killing Migrants

 

Killing migrants on the Big River

Killing migrants on the river of hope

Killing migrants for a political stunt

To make America great again

 

We need labor on the fields of plenty

We need workers to pick the crops

We need someone to care for the kids

We need people to tend the gardens

We need someone to trim the hedges

Rake the leaves and mow the lawns

We need workers to build new houses

To shelter and care for the elderly

We need people to fight the fires

And help those caught in the storm

 

Instead of putting them to work

We call names and drown them

As they if they have no value

As if they were not human

 

Go North (The Great Migration)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

 

Go North (Northward Migration)

 

There was a time in the long ago

When the young listened to the old

I know it’s hard to believe it so

The old were wise, the young were bold

 

Go west, young man! the old advised

Where the air is clean and fresh

Give up your aged and tattered ties

The future’s in the west

 

So westward bound they rose and went

With dreams of wealth and health in tow

The fortunes saved were often spent

The westward trek was long and slow

 

Now the cry goes out once more

To those who seek a brighter day

The only way to go is north

A place where kids can run and play

 

Go north, young man, where hope survives

Go north to breathe clean air

Go north to keep your dreams alive

Go north if you still dare

 

The Fate of Europe

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

The Fate of Europe

 

London Berlin Paris Madrid

The warming takes its measure

Antwerp Prague and Amsterdam

Run short on summer leisure

 

The changing face of Europe

It’s sure to take its toll

From Portugal to Italy

They fear it steals your soul

 

Migration rolls from east to west

Each nation plays its part

Welcoming the labor force

With open arms and hearts

 

Beware the great white backlash

The ugly face of hate

Will Europe take the dark road

Or embrace a higher fate?

 

Migrant Waves

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

 

Migrant Waves

 

They are lined up at the border

Ready to cross over

They’ve waited for the day

When the virus would subside

When the hatred would abate

When the gates of human kindness

would open up to let them in

 

They’ve been told to go away

Go back home where they belong

But they have no homes

No lands that welcome them

They have come from a brutal place

A place of murder and oppression

A place where mothers are raped

A place where children are abducted

A place of crime and violence

 

They are waiting for the gates to open

Knowing that they face discrimination

Knowing that many wish to harm them

Knowing they may be sent away

Or discarded like bags of trash

Or held in chain-link prisons

Yet they come to meet their fate

They come in waves of flesh

to remind us they are human

 

Do they not hope?

Do they not dream?

When you cut them,

do they not bleed?

 

El Paso

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

El Paso

 

The crisis in El Paso unfolds

Like a slow-motion catastrophe

A tsunami rolling over a coastal village

A hurricane in the ninth ward of New Orleans

A line of twisters rocking through tornado alley

A derailed freight train screeching with twisted metal

 

We see it coming

We observe it building to the moment of impact

We watch it unveiled in heart wrenching detail

but we are powerless to stop it

 

The freezing cold is moving down from the arctic

Barreling down like a Russian missile barrage

Honing in on the border of Texas and Mexico

Centering on the city of El Paso where hundreds

if not thousands of Nicaraguan asylum seekers

wait in huddled masses yearning to be free

Soon they will want only warmth and

shelter from the storm

 

We watch and wait from the other side

of our television screens

Pleading with people we do not know to

somehow come to their aid

Is there someone who can help?

Is there someone who can ease their suffering?

Or must we watch as we watched Katrina?

Must we watch as we watched Fukushima?

Must we watch as we watch so many

tragedies unfolding in slow motion from

the other side of the television screen? 

 

El Paso find your heart

El Paso find your empathy

Only you answer the call

Only you can ease the pain

 

Dreamers

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DREAM

Dreamers

 

In all my days I’ve wanted nothing more

Than to dream and act on my dreams

Our lives have so much hardship in store

Our ambitions are just what they seem

 

We want a chance at higher education

We want jobs at a decent wage

We want to live in a fair and thriving nation

We want to see an enlightened age

 

We are the ones who believe in the dream

The ones who will carry the light

We wish to join the American team

We will keep our goals in sight

 

We are really no different than you are

We desire the same things you do

A home, a family a working car

To prove that the dream is still true

 

Send Us Your Working Poor

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IMMIGRATION

Send Us Your Working Poor

 

Texas sends migrants to Manhattan

In what they consider a declaration of war

But with a severe shortage of labor

There is a reality we cannot ignore

 

Send us your poor, your huddled masses

We need them at restaurants and bars

We don’t need a war between classes

We don’t need your right to bear arms

But we’ll take Willie Nelson and Austin

We acknowledge that Texas has charms

 

So send us the workers you do not want

We need them to help fight our fires

We don’t need you to take us backwards

But we do need a whole lot of hires

We need nurses and teachers and aides

Send them before ours retire

 

We need them to work in our plants

We need them to work in our schools

All we ask is an honest day’s labor

And we’d like you to honor our rules

We’ll give you a good hearty welcome

Unlike those Texas fools

 

The Rio Grande (River Series)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS (RIVER SERIES)

 

Rio Grande (River Series)

 

The river that divides north and south

El Norte y el Sur

A river that divides one nation from another

Dos lenguajes y culturas

A river that gives life

And takes life away

 

Songs sung and stories told

Midnight crossing under dim moonlight

Coyotes bent on betrayal

Money lost

Families broken

Children swept away

Mothers weeping

People abandoned like stray cattle

In the barren Arizona desert

 

If the Rio Grande could tell its story

Its waters would swell with tears

Its current run with the sweat of labor

Its banks stained with blood

 

The river gives and the river takes

Cross at your own peril

Cross if you must

Cross if you will

But beware: the river kills

 

Seven Generations: A Short Story

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IMMIGRATION

Seven Generations: A Short Story

 

The generations flow

Like currents in a great river

Like waves in the sea

Where each wave is endowed

With the power to alter

The course of history

And all that it encompasses

 

It begins with immigration

(this is not a native story)

Religious persecution

Economic opportunity

Importation of slaves

The great potato famine

The Armenian genocide

The siege of the Warsaw ghetto

The Nazi invasion

The Bracero program

Cold War refugees

The purge of Christians

The purge of Muslims

 

It begins with the journey

A journey of hardship

Discrimination and hatred

Violence and disruption

 

It advances through seven stages

Poor paying jobs

Substandard housing

Poverty and rejection

We don’t want your kind

Go back where you came from

 

It endures through persistence

With the help of friends

Understanding neighbors

And welcoming neighborhoods

 

It advances through hard work

Success and acceptance

Community sacrifice and service

 

It advances through legal proceedings

Stubborn insistence on human rights

Fights in the court

Fights in the legislature

 

It advances when the doors

Of opportunity open through

Representation and demand

 

It advances through power

Money and control

 

In seven generations you arrive

At the American dream

And the keepers at the gate wonder:

What took you so long?