Showing posts with label Life Songs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life Songs. Show all posts

Saturday, April 06, 2024

New Bohemia

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS


New Bohemia

 

Bohemia is not a place in Europe

Bohemia is a state of mind

A place where art and artists reign

Where no endeavor is more valued

Than the creation of a work of art

Where thoughts appear in song

Where dance is in the wind

Where each street is a poem

And every building a sculpture

 

Bohemia is a place in the heart

Where no one is afraid to speak

And everyone agrees: Freedom is

As necessary as food, air and water

Where the needs of all are tended to

Where the ambitions of politicians

Are set aside like yesterday’s news

 

Bohemia is a place of growing

Where a child is taught to follow dreams

Where every person has a purpose

Where no dream is too small

Where no vision is too large

Where the struggle burns within

The search for truth and meaning

The fulfillment of the soul

 

Bohemia is not a place in Europe

It is a state of mind

Where every individual is driven

To be creative and kind

Sunday, February 04, 2024

Fairness

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS


Fairness

 

Life is not fair

We say it so often we believe it

We believe it so well we aggrieve it

The stars turned against me

My enemies joined forces

The D.A. and the media

The judges and the elite

The system and the deep state

They won’t let me have my way

It’s so unfair…

 

Well sometimes life is unfair

Things happen that shouldn’t

Children die in accidents

Mothers die giving birth

Wars and disasters

Hurricanes and floods

 

And yet most of the time

(maybe nine out of ten)

Life is fair

Good things happen to good people

Loving couples find each other

A child is born to caring parents

Guilty people are found guilty

Innocent people go free

The right person is elected president

Problems are solved

People work together

Teachers teach children

Music and literature

Love and understanding

 

Life is mostly fair

When it is not take heart

We will endure

And fairness will return

Like sunlight at dawn

 

Monday, January 08, 2024

Staring Down the Barrel (for Ukraine)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE


Staring Down the Barrel

 

We knew what were in for

We were always on the run

We were heading for the exit

Underneath a setting sun

Like a woman on a tight rope

One wrong step and we’re done

We were staring down the barrel

of a gun

 

We were desperate and afraid

Like a child that has no one

We were carrying a load

That must have weighed a ton

We were running short on luck

No one lost and no one won

We were staring down the barrel

of a gun

 

When we awakened in the morning

We were naked and alone

All our friends and trusted allies

Had given up and gone home

We were all out of trying

We were down and we were done

We were staring down the barrel

of a gun

 

(for Ukraine)

Wednesday, January 03, 2024

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

 

Monday, December 25, 2023

No Christmas (on Christmas Day)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS


No Christmas

 

In the little town of Bethlehem

Where a child was given birth

There is no prayer or celebration

There is no peace on earth

 

There will be no Christmas singing

No sounds of Christmas cheer

No bells of joy are ringing

Our comfort changed to fear

 

We may never be the same

At least that’s how it feels

It seems to me an awful shame

To lift the Christmas shield

 

For Christmas is for everyone

No matter their beliefs

A time to put down our guns

A time to breathe relief

 

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

The Golden Rooster

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS


The Golden Rooster

 

She rises above the Paris skyline

Gazing off into an endless plain

The seed of western civilization

The heart of artistic reign

The golden rooster stands again

 

We do not worship her demeanor

Her golden sphere we do not praise

We look to her for strength and courage

We praise her for her boundless gaze

 

She is the golden rooster of France

An eternal symbol of resurgence

When she rises all will dance

And all of France will be emergent

 

I remember when my heart was whole

The day before the spire fell

I remember all the people crying

The endless chiming of the bells

They thought the golden rooster lost

Never would our dreams be well

Our footing on the earth was tossed

All our heavens turned to hell

 

But she is risen once again

The spirit of the world revived

Buried in the ash of men

The grand lady is still alive

 

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Freedom

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS


Freedom

 

There are two kinds of freedom

Freedom from and freedom to

Freedom from oppression and restraint

Freedom to say, think and do

What you would do if you were free

Freedom is not the same to you

As freedom is to me

 

Some people do not need freedom

Others should not possess it

 

No one should have the freedom

To impose their wills on others

Every woman should have the freedom

To be a loving mother

No one should possess the freedoms

To torture, rob and kill

Everyone should be free

To sit peacefully and still

 

One person’s freedom is another’s curse

It often depends on who gets there first

 

Wednesday, November 29, 2023

Room 101 (Orwell's 1984)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS


Room 101*

 

They know your worst fears

They can see it in your eyes

They are knowers and deep seers

They can smell all your lies

 

Every thought you’ve ever thought

Every dream you’ve ever dreamed

Every treasure you have sought

Every pleasure you have gleaned

 

They will take you in their arms

They will promise you the stars

They’ll protect you from all harm

They will tell you who you are

 

But you must promise in return

To blindly follow without doubt

Clear your mind until you learn

You’ll never know what it’s about

 

Your soul belongs to Big Brother

To this purpose you were born

Just like all and every other

To the state you will be sworn

 

* George Orwell 1984

 

Thursday, November 23, 2023

Thanksgiving

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS


Thanks

 

Thank you for the gentle rain

It keeps the planet green

It feeds a dry and thirsty world

As it paints a pretty scene

 

Thank you for our many friends

They give our lives such wonder

Without them we would falter

Hard times might take us under

 

We thank you for our families

They tell us who and what we are

They guide us on our journeys

They tell us not to go too far

 

We thank you for your splendor

It soothes us each and every day

It greets us on our chosen paths

It blesses us with grace

 

We thank you for the gift of life

We thank you for the love

We thank you for the majesty

That reigns from up above

 

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

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

 


Monday, November 13, 2023

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

 

Thursday, September 28, 2023

Heartless (Ode to Putin)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

 

Heartless

 

The man who does not blink an eye

Inflicting pain upon another

The woman who breaks others’ hearts

She has never found her own

The lonely child without a conscience

Who will never understand

The one who takes pleasure in others’ misfortune

The doctor who experiments upon the helpless

The trigger man for the mob

The singer who strikes every note

But never sheds a tear

The assassin who hits his mark from

A thousand paces

The general who orders his soldiers into

A hopeless battle

The commander who goes to war

To satisfy his ego

 

There are doubtless those who have no heart

The eternal question is:

Were they born heartless or

Did they lose it somewhere along the way?

We must hope it is the latter

For then they might find it again

But you cannot find what has never been


Wednesday, August 30, 2023

Necessary Changes

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS


Necessary Changes

 

Change does not come from magic

Change does not come from wishes

Change that is not worked for and earned

Comes from a constant wasting away

Foundations crumble from neglect

Machines rust and seize up

Institutions do the same

 

Necessary change must be planned

Necessary change must be plotted

Evolutionary change from revolutionary thought

The rest is only disintegration

 

Do nothing and watch it rot

Organize and watch it grow

We cannot be something we are not

Evolutionary changes are slow