Venezuelan Refugees

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: MASS DEPORTATION

 

Venezuelan Refugees

 

Sending refugees to prison in El Salvador

A level of depravity rarely seen

Even in the lowest dream

Like jailing people for being poor

What else would we do?

Are there any limitations?

Have we become a heartless nation?

 

We have lost our moral grounding

It is pitiful and yet it’s true

Our cruelty is astounding

Some would say it’s nothing new

 

They are fleeing from oppression

As we encouraged them to do

We would teach them all a lesson

But we failed to see it through

Now we tell them you’re not welcome here

You’re not welcome anywhere

We condemn you to a life of fear

Though we know it is not fair

 

This is not the old America

The one you knew and loved

This is the hateful nation

The hawk without the dove

 

(Trump administration ships Venezuelan

refugees to prison in El Salvador.)

 

The Great Purge

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP DAZE

 

The Great Purge

 

The purge has begun

On holocaust remembrance day

Thousands of migrant workers

Detained and sent their way

Venezuelans and Columbians

Mexicans who came to stay

The government purges bureaucrats

The military purges trans

Justice purges Democrats

There’s fear throughout the land

 

As the purge is taking hold

We begin to understand

It’s a purge of young and old

A hiring freeze and ban

The agents of immigration

Are breaking down the doors

Without warrant or invitation

It’s an immigration war

They’re just following orders

But it’s rotten to the core

 

Sorrow's Garden

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IMMIGRATION

Sorrow’s Garden

 

Solemnity has taken the land

Our brothers and sisters are hiding

Mistakenly we elected a man

Whose one true gift is dividing

 

They’re loading them on planes and trains

They’re sending them far away

They’re leaving behind a moral stain

Our shining colors turned to gray

 

And who will speak for them in sorrow?

And who will dry their tears?

And who will work the fields tomorrow?

And who will count the years?

 

They are the people of the earth

We have known them as our friends

Citizens by right of birth

When will this madness end?

 

We have seen this many times before

We blame hard times on others

We cry out shame and bar the door

On our good sisters and brothers

 

Nullification (14th Amendment)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Nullification

 

If the president can nullify the constitution

With the waving of his pen

Erase the founders’ contribution

Just how can we pretend?

There is no constitution at all

 

If the president by his decree

With the power of the gods and fate

Can tell us what the law will be

Then the constitution of the United States

In all its vaunted majesty must fall

 

If the Court upholds this grievous act

To expose our constitution’s flaw

Then they become political hacks

Without regard for the rule of law

Then they’ve betrayed us all

 

A person born in freedom’s land

Is a citizen by entitled right

He should not fear to take a stand

Or hide or from the law take flight

All citizens stand brave and tall

 

(Trump negates birthright citizenship

by executive decree.)

 

Heartless

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IMMIGRATION

Heartless

 

How do you tell a child

This world no longer wants you?

How do you tell a child

You must leave your home?

 

Millions of mothers and fathers

Aunts, uncles and grandparents

Must now have that conversation

To prepare for the uncertainty

Of the days that lie ahead

 

Juanita, you are not welcome here

Jose, it is time to go

Your friends are not your friends

Your teachers will not protect you

The police are now your enemies

They will take you from your home

They will place you in a cage

They will make you feel alone

Your family is your only refuge

There is no one else

It is time to go

 

Yesterday is yesterday

Say goodbye to all you know

All that was is no longer

What remains is a lonely road