Hard Times Ahead

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Hard Times Ahead

 

As Voyager travels far from home

Billions of miles as the crow flies

We on earth are feeling alone

All our plans have gone awry

We think of all our scientists

As we lay our kids to bed

We nod our heads and make a list

There are hard times ahead

 

The whole planet is in shambles

Global warming is on the rise

We took a deadly gamble

In believing all those lies

We bowed to greed and ignorance

We followed where it led

Now we’re praying for resilience

There are hard times ahead

 

Peace is just a wayward dream

Our wars are spreading fast

We don’t know what the future brings

Or how long we will last

We see the mass destruction

It fills our minds with dread

Each day brings an obstruction

There are hard times ahead

 

The elder folks will never know

The damage we have done

We made the beast and let it grow

Now all are dazed and stunned

There’s a darkness all around us

A darkness we have bred

It startles and confounds us

There are hard times ahead

Open Letter to the Russian People

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RUSSIA

 

Open Letter

 

People of Russia I humbly speak

I appeal to your humanity

If peace is what you seek

Do not yield to your vanity

Don’t believe that we are weak

 

You are not your dark leader

We are not the same as ours

In a forest of hard cedar

We have both built our towers

We have listened to deceivers

 

But we do not desire war

Despite all you might have heard

When you knock upon our door

We will hear your honest word

And we will travel to your shore

 

As for the matter of Ukraine

We believe in basic rights

Let us make it very plain

We do not believe in might

We will not embrace the pain

 

We believe in sharing views

We believe in compromise

Let us walk in common shoes

Let us form more common ties

If we fail both sides will lose

 

For the world and for ourselves

We must end this bitter hate

Put our differences on the shelf

Let us forge a better fate

Let’s regard each other well

Wings of Freedom

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR & PEACE

Wings of Freedom

 

Freedom rides on the wings of hawks

Peace rides on the wings of doves

What freedom hides the peace unlocks

Both thrive on the wings of love

 

We’ve lived with war so very long

It’s like the air and water

Our need for war has grown so strong

We neglect our sons and daughters

 

We must always strive for freedom

We must always work for peace

We must strive as if we need them

May this need for violence cease

 

They tell us it’s a solemn choice

That the price of freedom is war

They would silence every peaceful voice

And cast us to the farthest shore

 

For we should never sacrifice

Our freedom for the peace

To do so would be like trading

Our home for a temporary lease

 

(Wings of Freedom is the Israeli name

for the program to return the hostages.)

Find the Light

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: PEACE

 

Find the Light

 

In a world of constant trials

Where tragedy tempts the heart of darkness

Where catastrophes strike with little notice

Where the innocent are unprotected

Where women and children die on

Battlefields and paths of destruction

Where greed has become a virtue

Where homelessness awaits misfortune

Where compassion is a weakness

Where vengeance is admired

Along with bitterness and loathing

Take time to raise your eyes

To see beyond the smoke and dust

To see the love beneath the hatred

To sense the weakness of the rage

To feel the sadness in the greed

To feel empathy for those in need

In a world of constant trials

When little seems quite right

Find the light

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

 

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

 

The Love (on Christmas)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: PEACE

The Love

 

Peace across the valley

Christmas bells are ringing

Waves of Christmas revelry

Boys and girls are singing

 

Where is the love that once we knew?

So freely given this time of year?

Where is the love that seemed so true?

Where is the Christmas cheer?

 

As children we loved everyone

Over time we learned to hate

Every daughter and every son

Was welcomed as our mate

 

Where is the love that grew on trees?

It seems so very far away

Where is the hand we gave for free?

Lost somehow along the way

 

We need to find the love again

To give the world new birth

To find the kindness deep within

For peace on planet earth

 

Peace in Our Time

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR & PEACE

Peace in Our Time

 

The community of man

(the generic man, man without gender)

has never been at peace

We have had periods of calm when

enemies have put down their arms

but soon they pick them up again

 

Humanity exists in a state of perpetual war

The same emotions that inspire works

of magnificent art and architecture

The same desires that give birth to

eternal literature and sculpture

Monuments to human dignity

Also give us conflict, rage and vengeance

 

The human animal can only find peace

when he and she and people of all colors,

shapes and measures find a way to

contain our dark emotions

 

The human animal can never be at peace

with others until he and she and people

of all stripes, beliefs and religions are

at last at peace with ourselves

 

People of Israel put down your arms

People of Russia refuse to fight

People of all nations let us find a way

to love each other as we love ourselves

Let us find a path to peace in our time

 

A World at War

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

A World at War

 

We are nose down heading to a world at war

Is there no one who remembers?

No one who knows the horrors in store

No one to ask: Is it worth fighting for?

 

We all understand who is first to blame

The monsters of war have little shame

They toss the bombs and point away

Hamas and Putin are their names

 

If we do not find a path to peace

(Palestine needs a sovereign state)

There will be nowhere left to meet

(Stop Putin before it’s too late)

 

There is no place in the world for war

Our weapons assure our destruction

Stop this madness at the door

Disarm before the next eruption

 

A union of nations must rise in force

Our weapons must be held at bay

This must happen as a matter of course

If not we count our lives in days

 

The planet faces far greater threats

Without that of annihilation

The earth will hold us to our debts

Far better to claim salvation

 

The Creature of the Deep

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

The Creature of the Deep

 

There is a creature that dwells in sleep

With tentacles long and many

As many as are necessary

In the moment of deep, deep sleep

Its tentacle reach out in all directions

Taking hold of every sleeping soul

In that instant we are all connected

Each of us knows what every other thinks

Each of us feels what every other feels

Each of us understands we are one

 

The Israeli feels what the Palestinian feels

The Russian sees what the Ukrainian sees

The Islamist understands the Hindi

The Christian understands the Buddhist

The deist understands the atheist

The saint understands the bigot

Each of us understands the other

 

When we are in that deep cave of sleep

We are naked and everywhere

When we climb out of that deep cave

We clothe ourselves with prejudice

We clothe ourselves with bigotry and hate

We don the cloth of closed minds

That we may thrive among our people

 

Yet at moments of silent clarity

When all is quiet in the soul

We remember the creature of the deep

We remember that instant of knowing

We remember that we are one with all

And all are one within

Babble

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

 

Babble

 

They do not speak my language

They listen with their ears

But my words never quite form

They tell me I’ve lost my voice

They say they know how to find it

But they do not know me

They do not know where I come from

They do not know my language

I try to learn their words and syntax

But they carry a foreign sound

They will always sound strange

A sound less than genuine

For they do not speak my language

And I do not speak theirs

We speak across one another

We listen and nod and take it in

But we know it does not belong

Our hearts and souls reject it

Like the babble of ancient lore

We are of different tribes

We come from different ways

Our words rattle in other voices

Our ways cannot find home

Someday we will find a bridge

Someday we will find connections

That remind us we are one

Until then we can only nod

And pretend we understand

 

Peace on Earth

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR & PEACE

Peace on Earth

 

In this moment of solemnity

As quiet comforts my soul

It seems a long hard road ahead when

Peace on earth sticks in my throat

When hope sometimes grows old

We shiver in our winter coats

We fight against the cold

 

Though our wish for peace is great

Our prayers are greater still

Those in the zone of war must wonder

How much our prayers are worth

Their friends and loved ones killed

They also prayed for peace on earth

As winter brought a chill

As Christmas brought a dearth

 

But pray for peace we must

In the winter of our darkest fears

For all the world seems hollow

Our yuletide glow seems dreary

And we would yield our winter cheer

Our songs and loving wishes

For a just and lasting peace this year

For peace on earth next year

 

Peace

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Peace

 

We have placed the boot of a human

foot on the surface of the moon

We have produced human likeness

in breathtaking accuracy

We have spanned the sea

with miracles of engineering

We have delivered the breath of light

to the darkest corners of the earth

We have dammed mighty rivers

and built towers to the stars

We have created masterworks

of literature, technology and art

We have eradicated deadly disease

and saved the buffalo from extinction

We have split the atom and harnessed

the awesome power of the sun

We have protected our wisest voices

and quieted the rage of superstition

We have built governments and

institutions to the stand the ages

yet we cannot stop nations

from destroying one another

in pursuit of power

in the madness of greed

in the desire for fame

 

Until we can exist in mutual respect

Until we can banish war forever

Until we can accomplish a just peace

We have achieved nothing