How Many?

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GAZA

How Many?

 

A child born in Rafah

Just an hour before his fate

He had nothing to do with the raging war

His existence was soon erased

 

They are heaped in massive trenches

Like victims of a deadly plague

How horrid the stench of death

Like a nightmare from a lost dark age

 

A dozen here, a thousand there

They no longer have names or faces

The Gaza Strip is a hell on earth

The worst of the hellish places

 

We no longer want all the answers

We no longer want to know why

The only thing we want to know is:

How many more must die?

 

You once taught us to care for others

Now we’ve discovered it was a lie

If we fail to stop this brutal attack

How many more will die?

 

(re: Chris Hayes of MSNBC)

The Warlord of Israel

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

The Warlord of Israel

 

He is the saboteur of war

Taunting all his foes

Betraying his alliances

Disseminating woe

 

A constant state of war is

All that this man knows

With every act of cruelty

The bloodshed only grows

 

Disproportionate retribution

Strikes beyond the border

The warlord of Israel

Brings chaos and disorder

 

The man will not be satisfied

Until the world’s on fire

A never-ending state of war

His ultimate desire

 

Take from him his weapons

Swipe away his power

Cast him to the winds of war

And praise his final hour

 

The Crimes of Netanyahu

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

The Crimes of Netanyahu

 

The crimes against humanity

Continue without pause

Netanyahu flicks his thumb at us

In defiance of all laws

 

Another thousand dead

Another week of terror

Netanyahu shrugs his shoulders

As if it was random error

 

The war continues on

Until his anger is abated

How many more must die

Before his rage is satiated?

 

We must find another way

And we must find it yesterday

For what Hamas started

Future generations will pay

 

For now there is no answer

There is only blood and pain

The violence will continue

Like a cruel and endless chain

 

Contrasts (Light and Darkness)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Contrasts

 

How can we breathe the fresh clean air

When we know what is happening elsewhere?

In Haiti there is no order

In Nicaragua and Mexico

There is no border

 

How can we send our children to school

To teach and embrace the golden rule?

When schools in Kiev are underground

When there is no school in Gaza

In Yemen the schools left town

 

How can we enjoy our fresh cooked meals

When elsewhere there is starvation?

When hungry children go to sleep

There is no grain, there is no meat

When what you sow is what you reap

When rescue workers are killed or beat

 

How can we live in peace when

Around the world there is only war?

We fight for greed and vengeance

When men in power want only more

When more is never ever enough

When the wealthy consume the poor

 

How can we go on without care

With killing and hardship everywhere

How can we live our happy lives

When so many live in despair?

When we know we are no better than

When we know it is not fair?

 

The Children of Gaza

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

The Children of Gaza

 

The act of genocide

Can no longer be denied

The death and destruction

Cuts deep inside

 

When will we make an end?

On what does it depend?

A policy of vengeance

We can no longer defend

 

There are too many dead

Too many without bread

And none of us believe

A word Netanyahu said

 

We must end our support

Take the murderers to court

Put a stop to the killing

Playing out like a sport

 

The children are dying

Their mothers are crying

And all we can do

Is to say we are trying

 

End the war!

End the occupation!

Now!

 

End the Occupation

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

End the Occupation

 

On peace in the Middle East

Our democracy may depend

A ceasefire is not enough

The occupation must end

 

We remember how it started

But it no longer really matters

The Palestinians of Gaza

Have been brutalized and battered

 

We demand an end to violence

We demand an end to war

We cannot sustain our silence

We will endure it no more

 

They are forgotten people

Denied hope, denied a home

The wandering tribes of Palestine

Abandoned and alone

 

You have pushed beyond the limits

Of our capacity to defend

You’ve become what you abhor

This occupation must end

 

Rafah (Never-ending War)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

Rafah

 

So begins the siege of Rafah

As millions of innocents flee

But no one knows where they will go

A sea of refugees

 

The slaughter is unspeakable

The destruction is complete

Will anyone be spared

The stench of this defeat?

 

This war has cost too many lives

Or cast them into hell

Never will it be forgot

Palestinians remember well

 

The siege of Rafah will go on

This war defies an end

The bloodshed and the misery

This hatred will not mend

 

Until the darkness lifts

Until their hearts will bend

The horrors born of Rafah

Will plead for more revenge

 

Both sides will take a vow

To fight forever more

All of Palestine and Israel

The never-ending war

A Vote for War

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Antiwar Vote

 

Do not be fooled into thinking that

A vote for Trump is a vote for peace

For while Trump would surrender Ukraine

War would envelop the Middle East

 

He has no knowledge of our alliances

On which our security depends

Netanyahu is sworn to war forever

And he is Trump’s sworn friend

 

A vote for Trump is a vote for Vlad

A vote for Vlad is a vote for war

All of Europe trembles at the thought

Of the horrors that lie in store

 

After Russia conquers Ukraine

At a cost of a million lives

He will take aim at Sweden

And Poland may not survive

 

So if you wish to vote for peace

Know well who you’re voting for

A vote for Trump is a vote for Putin

A vote for Putin is a vote for war

 

Ceasefire

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

Ceasefire

 

The time has come

to raise our voices all in one

This massacre must end

This onslaught must be done

On this our trust depends:

Ceasefire in Gaza now

 

Netanyahu must go

A lasting peace cannot be found

If nothing else we know

When Netanyahu is around

The hatred only grows

And shakes the hallowed ground

Not another blow:

Ceasefire in Gaza now

 

Two states born of one

It is the only way

The terrorists are stunned

Let’s bow our heads and pray

Hamas is on the run

Let it be today

This battle has been won

Ceasefire in Gaza now

 

Idiot Wind

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

Idiot Wind *

 

We know that Netanyahu

Is a force against democracy

A voice for vengeance

A proponent of endless war

A perpetrator of genocide

But if you believe that Israeli forces

Dug the tunnels, planned and executed

The massacres of October 7^th

A brutal execution of their own people

The idiot wind is blowing

Through the vacuum of your mind

There is no end to fantasies

That prejudice can find

 

We know that Netanyahu failed

Failed to protect his people

He knew what was about to happen and

Failed to respond in time

We know that he is guilty of

Crimes against humanity

Crimes against civilization

Mass destruction and reckless

Disregard for innocent life

But if you believe the Israelis

Have no cause for rage and revenge

A rage founded in antiquity

A rage recorded for all time

The idiot wind is blowing

Through the missives of your kind

Through eyes that have been

Rendered selectively blind

 

* A song by Bob Dylan

 

Blind Vengeance

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

Blind Vengeance

 

People of Israel

Do you know the crimes

committed in your name?

 

What began as self defense

surrendered that rationale

when Netanyahu decided civilians

were subject to extermination

 

People of Israel

Have you seen the destruction

delivered in your name?

 

Hospitals are not hiding enemies

Schools are not training sites

An ambulance is not a target

Children are not expendable

Palestinians are not Hamas

Mothers are not soldiers

 

People of Israel

Do you know the blood your

leaders are spilling in your name?

 

I am not a terrorist apologist

I lament the unconscionable act

that unleashed this chain of horror

but just retribution has turned

into blind and brutal vengeance

 

People of Israel

I believe in your humanity

Help us to help your nation

return to the path of peace

 

The War Zone

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR

The War Zone

 

Every week by small degrees

The zone of conflict grows

From Lebanon to Yemen

Each side lands another blow

 

The Red Sea passage is open

But it is subject to attack

The flow of oil is threatened

The Houthis will strike back

 

There is more than meets the eye

In the growing zone of war

The pieces are in motion

Across the world’s chessboard

 

We know all the players

The proxies and the powers

Each move pushes forward

Toward the final hours

 

This is not a game of intellect

To exercise our minds

If we fail to see the whole

We are playing the game blind

 

Genocide in Gaza

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GAZA

Genocide in Gaza

 

The holocaust that some deny

The annihilation of the Jews

When millions of people died

Though the Nazi side would lose

 

While the destruction of Gaza fails

When a comparison is applied

To reach that horrific scale

It should not be denied

Israeli vengeance is off the rails

And the world cannot abide

 

The forced removal of a people

From the place where they reside

The destruction of their homeland

So vast, so deep, so wide

The mass killing of civilians

With nowhere to run or hide

There is no other word

No other construct to describe

A deliberate state of madness

That word is genocide

 

(South Africa accuses Israel before

the International Criminal Court.)