Carney Stands Strong

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CANADA

 

Carney Stands Strong *

 

Canada is standing strong

Against the bully to its south

A deal with China isn’t wrong

When faced with all this doubt

 

When most of Europe comes along

The US may be out

His arrogance does not belong

That’s not what we’re about

 

There’s only so much you can take

Before the bindings snap

The alliances are bound to break

Our friendships will collapse

 

Those who stand in opposition

Can face the coming days

With the pride of knowing their decisions

Will light a better way

 

The day will come when all will see

Through the bluster and vainglory

This president was a tragedy

The villain in this story

 

* Prime Minister Mark Carney

 

 

The Cowardly Court

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: SUPREME COURT

 

The Cowardly Court

 

That the Court is corrupt is well known

Justice comes at a high cost

But our doubts have only grown

As the Court seems to be lost

 

They may rule on the rights of guns

They may rule on the Federal Reserve

But on tariffs they seem to be stunned

The high court will bend and swerve

 

As a trade war with Europe unfolds

The cowardly court defers

When it should be forthright and bold

They refuse to utter a word

 

Though the law is exceptionally clear

Tariffs are the business of congress

The Supremes prefer not to hear

Any case that provides a fair test

 

Perhaps they will rule on the Bible

As an appendix to the Bill of Rights

Perhaps they’ll reclassify liable

Or maybe they’ll give up the fight

 

The only thing we know is true

Is that they serve the president’s will

When the president wins, the people lose

Yet they serve in silence still

 

In Defense of Democracy

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

In Defense of Democracy

 

Bolsonaro committed treason

Though he did not go as far

Attempted coup for obvious reasons

The people fought back hard

 

They put the man in prison

A fair trial before his peers

It was not a hard decision

You could hear the people cheer

 

South Korea’s Hun Duck-Soo

Signed on to martial law

Now he’s serving twenty-two

For a failed insurrection plot

 

It seems the people get it right

Nearly every chance they get

Their democracy is worth a fight

If you doubt it place your bet

 

Donald Trump is the exception

He holds his party in his hands

He has practiced his deception

To maintain his evil plan

 

He stands ready to betray

We stand ready to defend

There will come a time and place

When our democracy could end

 

 

The Killing

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: PROTEST

 

The Killing

 

They’re killing us on the streets

Just for being who we are

They’re killing us in our cars

A sense of heartbreak and defeat

 

We remember Rodney King

We remember George Floyd

Through our tears we feel the sting

When the soldiers are deployed

On the streets of our cities

In the center of our nation

Have you no heart and no pity?

Have you no sense of indignation?

 

We remember Kent and Jackson State

That’s when we knew they were willing

To shoot us down at the gates

To answer protests with killing

That’s when we had to contemplate

The cost in blood and the chilling

That’s when we knew the rabid hate

In their thugs they were instilling

 

Now we’re back to where we were

Law and order is their cry

Before the dead have been interred

They are spreading deadly lies

 

(In memory of Renee Good & Alex Pretti) 

 

The Peace Board

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

The Peace Board

 

In the biggest fraud ever created

Even greater than his word

The truth cannot be overstated

The Peace Board is absurd

 

A billion dollars will buy your ticket

To sit on the board forever

They will tell you where to stick it

If you challenge their endeavors

 

The Don will lead his empire

With a throne and crown of gold

His reign will be the rule of fire

And Greenland will be sold

 

The Nobel Prize is his at last

In exchange he won’t bomb Norway

He’ll build a castle out of glass

And he’ll greet you at the doorway

 

All the world will bend the knee

A humble tribute to his glory

The greatest man you’ve ever seen

His sons will write the story

 

 

Consolidation of Power

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

Consolidation of Power

 

The autocrat’s quest for power

Requires consent of the masses

Not just the elite in their ivory towers

But the middle and lower classes

 

His push to take the hemisphere

A far cry from America first

Has the world trembling with fear

It has made our security worse

 

We all know he wants to be king

The crown of a royal empire

He would do almost anything

He would set the sky on fire

 

But he cannot achieve it alone

The people must line up behind him

While his ambitions have only grown

The opposition will confine him

 

This remains a true democracy

As long as the people hold

There will be no gilded autocracy

For the people will not be sold

 

 

Alien Nation

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Alien Nation

 

Canada forms a new alliance

With a China trade agreement

Breaking up their old reliance

On American investment

 

All of Europe stands with Norway

On Greenland’s independence

If the US wants to play its games

The world’s patience has been spent

 

We’ve become an alien nation

We are running out of friends

In our quest to create sensation

The American age is at an end

 

We do not own Venezuela

Arctic Greenland or Australia

If we continue on this path

We’ll have earned the free world’s wrath

 

It is past time to mark an end

To this mindless game of power

To strike a balance we depend

On a trust beyond the hour

 

Land of the Free

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

Land of the Free

 

What land is this I wonder

The purple mountains majesty

The land of grain and thunder

The land of grace and sympathy

The land that pulls you under

 

This is the land of liberty

The land where all are free

The land that wants no misery

The land that lets you be

The land that places family

Among the sacred trees

 

A darkness spread across the land

The shadow of a beast

Some rose up to make a stand

Some cried out for peace

Many hid and many ran

So many more deceased

 

What happened in this land of light

This land of liberty?

The place of law and human rights

The land that sings of thee

A shadow brought an endless night

A curse on all you see

We finally gave up the fight

We are no longer free

 

 

Defending Greenland

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Defending Greenland

 

Greenland is under the threat

Of its powerful former ally

There is no cause or debt

They are left to wonder why

 

The Europeans have made it clear

They will stand in Greenland’s defense

The free world has raised a cheer

A message has been sent

 

Germany, Denmark and France

Stand with their mutual friend

If this president wants to dance

The old world order will end

 

That our president has gone mad

Is apparent to all our allies

The best we can hope for is sad

That much his grin belies

 

Greenland is not for sale

It’s a sovereign dependent nation

You may cry out and you may wail

But it is not an American station

 

 

Pariah State

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IRAN

 

Pariah State

 

When you kill your own people en masse

You have lost all control

Your reign cannot outlast

The selling of your soul

 

You are so in love with power

That you would kill without shame

In your hearts you’re all cowards

Spilling blood in God’s name

 

That blood is on your hands

It will remain there forever

No one knows or understands

How your compassion was severed

 

It is time to do what’s right

Let the people have their way

They are sworn to this fight

And in this fight they will stay

 

You have become a rogue nation

To all the world a pariah state

In this mindless provocation

You have earned a cruel fate

 

 

The Fall of NATO

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

The Fall of NATO

 

NATO has stood for over 75 years

United in purpose and ideals

It has relieved international fears

The dome of protection is real

 

All members honor the republican way

A declaration of human rights

There are limits on how far a nation can stray

In the dimming of Liberty’s light

 

Through all the changes and all the threats

NATO has always stood strong

Every challenge has always been met

Even times when we have been wrong

 

An attack on one is an attack on all

That is the core agreement

Without that core the treaty would fall

All members would suffer bereavement

 

When the US considers the use of force

Against a member nation

All nations must face a change of course

To reject our domination

 

 

The Uprising in Iran

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

The Uprising in Iran

 

Desperate times in Iran

Massive protests on the ground

The internet is down

No one knows what’s going on

 

The west must rally to the cause

If democracy is in play

Through the chaos and the fog

Hope has risen to the day

 

They do not ask for bombs

But they welcome our support

They want a strong and sound Iran

They do not want a war for sport

 

Let the cry for freedom sound

Like an echo loud and clear

Let their destiny be bound

To a future without fear

 

Everywhere the people rise

We must answer to their call

Everywhere we hear their cries

May their oppressors break and fall

 

 

The Iceman Cometh

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POLICE STATE

 

The Iceman Cometh *

 

She wasn’t an activist

(so what if she was)

She was a mother who dropped her child

off at school

She wasn’t obstructing the Icemen

(so what if she was)

She was trying to get away

when she found herself in a situation

Surrounded by angry men

Heavily armed, armored and vested

Some yelling at her to get out

Some yelling at her to move on

Was she frightened?  Maybe

When the Iceman cometh you should

be frightened

 

She tried to move on and they shot her

Not one of them came to her aid

Not one of them voiced disapproval

They blocked a doctor on the scene

They covered the truth

They lied

They called her a dirty red

She deserved to die they said

 

When the Icemen come to your town

Beware

Beware if you stand in their way

Beware if you tell them you’re not angry

Beware if you don’t move fast enough

Beware if you’re startled and afraid

They have proclaimed the right

to shoot you dead

 

When the Iceman cometh hide away

When the Iceman cometh bolt your door

When the Iceman cometh do not stray

When the Iceman cometh: war

 

* A play by Eugene O'Neill  

 

Iranian Freedom

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

Iranian Freedom

 

Iran’s desire for freedom

Is deeper than the deep blue sea

A culture of ancient wisdom

Iranians must be free

 

But do not ask for American aid

For it would come with a heavy hand

Be aware you would be played

By the greatest con in all the land

 

We applaud your courageous protest

With the people we must stand

With the victims of mass arrests

We share all of your demands

 

But do not ask the US for favors

We would take more than we give

We would give your gold to slavers

We would not let your freedom live

 

If you want to free your nation

From the hands of your oppressors

Do not trust for your salvation

The would-be king and his jesters

 

 

It Shouldn't Matter

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ICE

 

It Shouldn’t Matter

 

It shouldn’t matter that she was a mother

But it does

It shouldn’t matter that she was beloved

But it does

It shouldn’t matter that she was white

But it does

It shouldn’t matter that she was a citizen

But it does

It shouldn’t matter that she was a poet

But it does

It shouldn’t matter that she was trying

to do the right thing

But it does

 

She was a human being

That’s all that matters

She was trying to live a decent life

That’s all that matters

She stood in the way of injustice

That’s all that matters

She didn’t deserve to be shot down

Like a rabid dog

That too matters

She had a name: Renee Nicole Good

That matters

She had children

That matters

Her killing brings a torrent of tears

It shouldn’t matter but it does