Democracy in Peru

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LATIN AMERICA

 

Peruvian Democracy

 

Crime is the enemy of a civil society

When crime rises, trust declines

Bringing discontent and social anxiety

Democratic values fall behind

 

In Peru they send their leaders to jail

For failure to stop the criminal waves

That’s what happens when society fails

Corruption pulls them to an early grave

 

Now that Boluarte is out and Jeri is in

The demand for change will be growing

The countdown to elections will begin

They hope the crime rate will be slowing

 

Democracy can’t be a revolving wheel

That does not address the people’s needs

When government abuses power to steal

It is replaced with lightning speed

 

The enduring lesson of Peru’s democracy

Is that stability must take hold

To prevent the danger of autocracy

The people must be strong and bold

 

 

The Argentinian Compromise

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LATIN AMERICA

 

Argentinian Compromise

 

Between a steamroller and a boulder

The Argentinians are in crisis

The prospects are growing colder

With their inflationary prices

 

On one side looms the dragon

The full forces of oppression

Put your pesos in their wagon

You will be headed for depression

 

On the other is the autocrat

The unvarnished force of greed

If this is where your country’s at

Argentina is bound to bleed

 

The land with a tortured history

Is a land in desperate need

With a leader who is lost

And who will pay most any cost

 

To maintain his hold on power

Despite the welfare of the nation

As we approach the final hour

That will define their destination

 

 

The Enemy Within

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

Enemy Within

 

He’s told you where he stands

He paints it red white and blue

Our democracy be damned

What he says is what you do

If your light is getting dim

If you voice your point of view

If you disapprove of him

If you claim it isn’t true

You are the enemy within

 

Take it for what it’s worth

He expects you to comply

Or he will mark you with a curse

He doesn’t need to tell you why

He’s anointed by his birth

All his enemies should die

All his friends must always win

If you dare to call his lies

You are the enemy within

 

He puts our cities under siege

He demands our loyalty

He uses soldiers as police

Brutal ways and violent means

The right to protest is decreed

Null and void by his liege

The light of liberty grows dim

Unless you wear it on your sleeve

You are the enemy within

 

 

Strongmen of Nicaragua

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

Strongmen of Nicaragua

 

Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo

Rule the nation with an iron fist

A growing number of desaparecido

Their names were on a list

 

They disappear their adversaries

Like their predecessors did before

No telling where the bodies are buried

It’s a part of the nation’s lore

 

It’s an endless fight for liberty

In the nations below the border

They pray the soldiers let them be

They plead for law and order

 

But the government is the problem

They have guns and they have power

The courts cannot absolve them

When it comes to the reckoning hour

 

They are cursed to live in darkness

Until the light comes shining through

Like a hawk trapped in its nest

Until the day it finally flew

 

Twenty Thousand

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

Twenty Thousand

 

For you who do not support Ukraine

In their struggle to remain free

Maybe this truth will make it plain

Twenty thousand kids who did not flee

But were captured and taken away

To be retrained and made to see

That Russia was not the enemy

That Ukraine was just a myth

A ghost nation that does not exist

 

Twenty thousand kids torn away

Ripped from their mother’s arms

And programmed to go insane

With a cold promise to do no harm

To take up arms against Ukraine

 

No reason for alarm

Resistance is in vain

 

If this is not evil to the core

If indeed it does not break your heart

It is no use to tell you more

You too were programmed from the start

To see what you were told to see

To doubt what you are told to doubt

 

Those poor kids were never free

Russia only helped them out

 

Moldova Chooses Freedom

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

Moldova Chooses Freedom

 

Maia Sandu remains president

In a free and fair election

Vladimir Putin is feeling spent

With his candidate’s rejection

 

The people of Moldova

Choose democracy once again

Putin tried to interfere

But he was denied a win

 

The affirmation goes to show

When the people have a choice

The desire for freedom grows

They will exercise their voice

 

We salute fair Moldova

While NATO lies in wait

Russia is like a melanoma

A disease is their estate

 

The future now looks bright

Form Moldovan democracy

Again they’ve seen the light

A stern rejection of autocracy

 

 

The Rise of Gen Z

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

The Rise of Gen Z

 

It rises from the internet

From the darkness of the web

The mold is cast and set

To the cry of Johnny Reb

 

From Madagascar to Sri Lanka

From the Philippines to Nepal

It comes down against corruption

Warning up against the wall!

 

It has no leaders or philosophy

At least that’s what we’re told

It moves ahead with lightning speed

And stuns when it unfolds

 

It turned the tide in Kathmandu

It caught fire in Paraguay

With the flames of angry youth

Demanding fundamental rights

 

You didn’t listen to them before

You might want to listen now

They don’t want your stupid wars

And their voice is growing loud

 

They stand as Generation Z

Their time has now arrived

Their cry is spreading like a weed

Their word is carried far and wide

 

Palestine

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: PALESTINE

 

Palestine

 

Recognizing Palestine

Does not make it so

Changing water into wine

Doesn’t mean our crops will grow

 

The people will not go away

Disappear into the sand

Just because the Israelis say

This is our promised land

 

There must be a give and take

If we are to live in peace

All accords will surely break

Without exchange at the least

 

Palestine must have a state

Israel must be secure

Eternal war will be our fate

Without a path that ensures

 

Palestine must compromise

Israel must find a way

When both sides choose the wise

The world will greet a brighter day

 

 

Xi Takes the Lead

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Xi Takes the Lead

 

While America proclaims a hoax

China moves ahead

Making Xi a little more woke

And lessening the dread

Of a climate change denier

Living in the White House

A dirty coal supplier

A deal with Doctor Faust

 

Reducing carbon emissions

In the interest of humankind

Reduces our suspicions

Of what China has in mind

For all our best decisions

Depend on what we find

In the hope of nuclear fission

And the global warming bind

 

As America steps back

The Chinese take the lead

Where science is under attack

All of Europe feels the need

There’s something that we lack

When the whole world plants a seed

While we run off the tracks

In record numbing speed

 

 

Police State Portland

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POLICE STATE

 

Police State Portland

 

What’s going down in Portland?

Is the city hall on fire?

Are the citizens under siege?

Or is the president a liar?

 

Portland is a city of love

The people do not want war

They believe in peaceful protest

They desire to help the poor

 

There are no riots on the streets

There is no wave of crime

They’re simply marching to the beat

In opposition to brutal times

 

They do not like the president

But they’re not planning a coup d’etat

A lot of their people live in tents

But they’ll uphold the people’s law

 

They don’t need your law’n order

They don’t need your armored cars

Why don’t you send them to the border

Better yet, send them to Mars

 

What about Epstein?

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: EPSTEIN FILES

 

What about Epstein?

 

You got Ghislaine out of her cell

And into a prisoner’s dream

What was a sentence in hell

Is more like a gentle scream

You discounted the words of prosecutors

And women when they were teens

You’ll talk about most anything

But not about Jefferey Epstein

 

So you fired Kimmel and Colbert

It can’t be so, feels like a dream

The president doesn’t control the air

How could it be? What does it mean?

The sky is gray and the sea is green

And oh yeah, what about Epstein?

 

So much to learn, so little time

It feels like a slow-moving stream

I’ve a longing for the world sublime

But the river is getting mean

You’d like us all to fall in line

To wipe all that history clean

You’ll go your way, I’ll go mine

But what about Jeffery Epstein?

 

Netanyahu Stands Alone

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

 

Netanyahu Stands Alone

 

Woe be unto Israel

Leave this man at home

You need not be his keeper

Netanyahu stands alone

 

The harm that he has done

The people must atone

Woe be unto Israel

Netanyahu stands alone

 

Vengeance is his mission

A bomb for every stone

Sewing hard divisions

Netanyahu stands alone

 

The death toll rises every day

Mournful mothers moan

Searching for another way

Netanyahu stands alone

 

So many dead and buried

Piles of flesh and bones

The burden you must carry

Netanyahu stands alone

 

(Netanyahu comes to the UN.)

 

Last Best Stand

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

Last Best Stand

 

We don’t know what the future holds

We’ll do the best we can

Be strong, my friend, be true, be bold

For this may be the last best stand

 

The warning bells have sounded now

We’re sound in our positions

We’re dreamers yet we’re grounded now

We’re poets and magicians

 

We’re called upon to hold our ground

It’s a battle set in stone

We’re sworn to never let you down

Though we may stand alone

 

This is the path we’re given

Though we want to cause no harm

We’re desperate and we’re driven

But they are better armed

 

They have their money and their guns

We have what we can carry

Until the battle’s lost or won

On this ground we’ll be buried

 

The Great Extortionist

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: FREE SPEECH

 

The Great Extortionist

 

The corporate world has taken its stand

To oblige the wannabe dictator

Now it’s up to every woman and man

To put them through the grater

 

CBS fired their late-night host

At the urging of our president

A shot heard loud from coast to coast

We knew exactly what it meant

 

ABC was quick to can their man

On the shallow side of pretense

They’re sure that we will understand

The bottom line is their defense

 

Now B & J is going down

Yielding to the rightwing pressure

Soon there will be none around

For our entertainment pleasure

 

This is how our grand republic ends

With a constant push and shove

On the next election we’ll depend

With some help from the stars above

 

(Jimmy Kimmel fired and reinstated.)

 

Provocation

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RUSSIA

 

Provocation

 

He is the neighborhood bully

Poking your friend in the chest

If we could understand it fully

It is a provocation to the west

 

Drones over Europe

Fighter jets in NATO airspace

A strategy of drip drip drip

Putting NATO in its place

 

It is a reckless game

That only Putin would engage

But it is more of the same

From the man on center stage

 

Will he stimulate defiance?

Another war, an arms race?

Will he weaken the alliance?

Will he back down with grace?

 

In the days and years ahead

He will put us to the test

It could be a world of dread

Unless we unify the west