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

 

The Insurrection Act

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

The Insurrection Act

 

The nation’s leading insurrectionist

The only one we’ve seen in fact

A closet segregationist

Invokes the Insurrection Act

 

The irony is beyond rich

The train runs off the tracks

He’ll run it straight into a ditch

Invoke the Insurrection Act

 

We’re on the road to disaster

Once there there’s no way back

All because our great white master

Invokes the Insurrection Act

 

He regards us all as slaves

Living in our rundown shacks

It will haunt us to our graves

When he invokes The Act

 

We will live under his rule

We will have lost all our rights

The oppression will be cruel

It is not too late to fight

 

The Enemy Within

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

Enemy Within

 

He’s told you where he stands

He paints it red white and blue

Our democracy be damned

What he says is what you do

If your light is getting dim

If you voice your point of view

If you disapprove of him

If you claim it isn’t true

You are the enemy within

 

Take it for what it’s worth

He expects you to comply

Or he will mark you with a curse

He doesn’t need to tell you why

He’s anointed by his birth

All his enemies should die

All his friends must always win

If you dare to call his lies

You are the enemy within

 

He puts our cities under siege

He demands our loyalty

He uses soldiers as police

Brutal ways and violent means

The right to protest is decreed

Null and void by his liege

The light of liberty grows dim

Unless you wear it on your sleeve

You are the enemy within

 

 

Strongmen of Nicaragua

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

Strongmen of Nicaragua

 

Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo

Rule the nation with an iron fist

A growing number of desaparecido

Their names were on a list

 

They disappear their adversaries

Like their predecessors did before

No telling where the bodies are buried

It’s a part of the nation’s lore

 

It’s an endless fight for liberty

In the nations below the border

They pray the soldiers let them be

They plead for law and order

 

But the government is the problem

They have guns and they have power

The courts cannot absolve them

When it comes to the reckoning hour

 

They are cursed to live in darkness

Until the light comes shining through

Like a hawk trapped in its nest

Until the day it finally flew

 

Police State Portland

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POLICE STATE

 

Police State Portland

 

What’s going down in Portland?

Is the city hall on fire?

Are the citizens under siege?

Or is the president a liar?

 

Portland is a city of love

The people do not want war

They believe in peaceful protest

They desire to help the poor

 

There are no riots on the streets

There is no wave of crime

They’re simply marching to the beat

In opposition to brutal times

 

They do not like the president

But they’re not planning a coup d’etat

A lot of their people live in tents

But they’ll uphold the people’s law

 

They don’t need your law’n order

They don’t need your armored cars

Why don’t you send them to the border

Better yet, send them to Mars

 

Last Best Stand

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

Last Best Stand

 

We don’t know what the future holds

We’ll do the best we can

Be strong, my friend, be true, be bold

For this may be the last best stand

 

The warning bells have sounded now

We’re sound in our positions

We’re dreamers yet we’re grounded now

We’re poets and magicians

 

We’re called upon to hold our ground

It’s a battle set in stone

We’re sworn to never let you down

Though we may stand alone

 

This is the path we’re given

Though we want to cause no harm

We’re desperate and we’re driven

But they are better armed

 

They have their money and their guns

We have what we can carry

Until the battle’s lost or won

On this ground we’ll be buried