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

 

 

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 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  

 

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

 

 

ICE Cold Killer

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE

 

ICE Cold Killer

 

An alleged officer of the law

Drew his gun and killed her dead

The video footage may be raw

But it fill all decent folks with dread

 

They closed ranks and tried to blame her

For simply wanting to survive

As time goes on they’ll try to shame her

But someone filmed it live

 

Now we’re recalling George Floyd

And all that happened in his name

Our sense of justice was destroyed

A lasting legacy of shame

 

There is no peace across the land

It is a time of rage and strife

The evil ones have made a stand

Renee Good has lost her life

 

She was a mother and a friend

Tonight she is no longer

A precious life has found an end

The resistance must grow stronger

 

 

Santiago Falls (The Ghost of Pinochet)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LATIN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

Santiago Falls

 

Jose Antonio Kast

Brings back shadows of the past

The ghost of Pinochet

Has come back to haunt Chile

 

A campaign of law and order

A promise to protect the border

Rising crime and deportation

Mounting fear and desperation

 

We cannot predict the future

But we can warn about the past

As the future travels nearer

Our dread grows deep and vast

 

Recall the disappeared

Remember the oppression

The iron fist of fear

Has Chile learned her lesson?

 

Or is she now condemned

To repeat her sordid past?

On this man you’ll depend

To break his fascist cast

 

 

The Imperial President

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

The Imperial President

 

If I say it’s the law it’s the law

If I say it’s a crime it’s a crime

The imperial president’s flaw

Puts the nation in a bind

 

We are complicit in our silence

As the president does his will

Acts of war and criminal violence

He has claimed the right to kill

 

In this country we don’t have a king

And we do not have a god

The blowback he will surely bring

The outrage and the fraud

 

He is itching for a fight

To distract us from the files

Whether wrong or whether right

Someone’s bound to get riled

 

As we take another step

Toward losing our republic

As the founding spirits wept

As the clock begins to tick

 

May we change the way we’re thinking

Before we lose it all

The ship of state is sinking

In the days before the fall

 

 

A Hero in Chicago

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POLICE STATE

 

Marimar Martinez

 

Shot down like a rabid dog

On a rampage in Chicago

When they finally cleared the fog

The facts were clearly known

 

She sounded an alarm

To the folks in her community

They meant to do her harm

To break Chicago’s unity

 

But cameras showed the story

The border agent lied

They stripped him of his glory

He’s lucky no one died

 

He tried to take her life

For standing up to her convictions

You could cut it with a knife

The tension and suspicions

 

You are not wanted here

Go back to where you came from

You are only spreading fear

Like the pounding of a war drum

 

Marimar is a hero

A bold and shining light

A light that ever grows

A force for good and right

American Gestapo

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POLICE STATE

 

American Gestapo

 

A secret agent of the state

That targets a minority

Enough to make us contemplate

The darkest page of history

 

They have money in their bank

Without constraint of oversight

They could buy a Sherman tank

And roll it down the street at night

 

No one wants them in their town

No one wants them in their city

They only take good people down

In a way that’s never pretty

 

They no longer have a place

In a land that’s free and just

If they vanished without a trace

Few would grieve or even cuss

 

For they’ve earned the scorn of all

Who hold our values in esteem

As they rise our virtue falls

We who hold on to the dream

 

Please believe us when we say

Your kind is never wanted here

Yours will never be our way

For we hold the promise dear

 

Homeland Security

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

 

Homeland Security

 

Homeland Security was supposed

to protect us from terrorist attacks

Now they’re rounding up immigrants

on the streets of our cities

They’ve become a force of oppression

A force that the people fight back

 

This is the way of law enforcement

This is the way of intelligence agencies

They may begin with good intentions

But they gather power like shit gathers flies

They become the instruments of some

madman’s misbegotten lies

 

Are there no real terrorists to fight?

Or have they dropped the ball once again?

Are they on the job or have they lost sight?

Just like they did way back then

 

They don’t belong on the streets of LA

They should not be doing the job of ICE

Go back to you origin and find a way

Or we will all be paying a steep price

 

 

Rio in Red

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: BRAZIL

 

Rio in Red

 

A Brazilian flag is stained in red

After Rio’s deadly raid

Hundreds of bodies lying dead

All hope begins to fade

 

The favelas are in mourning

So many people dead

It came without a warning

Leaving only fear and dread

 

Who ordered this abomination?

This massacre of men

Was it meant to cause sensation?

Are they prepared to do it again?

 

Castro ordered the slaughter

The governor of the state

The people were cannon fodder

They met a gruesome fate

 

He accused them of narco terror

An accusation that covers all

No trials. What could be fairer?

Line em up against the wall

 

Is this the way of the world now?

Justice belongs to the strong

We do not ask why or how

We know in our hearts it’s wrong

 

 

The Illusionist

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP DAZE

 

The Illusionist

 

He creates a stunning façade

All that glitters is not gold

He perceives himself a god

His magic sparkling and bold

 

He vanquished part of the White House

Gone in rubble and dust

He will stage a spectacular roust

Shazam! There goes all trust!

 

But the Gaza destruction goes on

The wars he stopped were never there

Putin still strings him along

And the markets are chasing the bear

 

He instigates violence in the cities

He creates an illusion of order

The illusion is quick and pretty

He should use it on the southern border

 

He pretends that everything’s grand

He celebrates before it’s done

Have a party, strike up the band

Once again the king has won

 

But all he’s done is not real

He just spins his webs of illusion

A toss of the great spinning wheel

When he’s done there’s mass confusion

 

Freedom

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

Freedom

 

Those who are blessed to be free

May not know how it would be

If our rights were taken from us

Would we even make a fuss?

 

When one innocent is imprisoned

All good people are on the run

Like a shadow on the sun

The light is blocked for everyone

 

When Peltier * was released

The light of freedom shined bright

Enabling all of us to breathe

Bringing freedom into sight

 

When we refuse to do our part

To stop oppression in plain view

There is an emptiness of heart

That informs us what to do

 

For all of us are in this now

From the farmers to the cops

Let our conscience show us how

Tell our government to stop

 

Freedom is a gift to all

Guaranteed by our constitution

If our sacred rights should fall

We must demand restitution

 

* Leonard Peltier, Lakota Spirit Guide

   Granted a pardon by Joe Biden

 

 

Police Lawlessness

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POLICE STATE

 

Police Lawlessness

 

When law enforcement officers

Do not obey the law

The system is fraught

With a critical flaw

 

When those in power

Abuse the force

The people are compelled

To find a new course

 

When the cop on the street

Can slam you to the ground

A new and better way

Demands to be found

 

We are a nation ruled by law

Not by vicious men in power

We demand a change of draw

Down to this very hour

 

If those behind the badge

Refuse to stand up for us all

It is time and time again

For their badges to fall

 

We need new officers of law

To defend the people’s will

The men and women we have now

Will only watch and stand still

 

While the people are abused

Tormented and detained

When it comes to use of force

They are rarely restrained