The Next Phase (Resistance)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DEMOCRACY

The Next Phase (Resist)

 

We approach a turning point

A transition in the struggle

An acceleration in our efforts

Or a fundamental change

A continuation of the battle

Or the start of a new phase

 

What applies in America

Applies equally in Ukraine

As we await the election

We prepare for a change

If it is not as we have hoped

If the unthinkable comes to pass

We begin the resistance

A phase that will last

 

In the battle for democracy

We will take it to the streets

If they strike us down like cattle

We will march to a different beat

We will march in silent protest

We will refuse to move on

We will test the limits of their brutality

We will fold back if necessary

Into the shadows of resistance

And we will resist

 

In the battle for Ukraine

If the unthinkable comes to pass

The Russians and their allies

Become the hated occupiers

Ukraine becomes the resistance

How long can the occupation hold?

The spirit of independence lives

The resistance will not fold

Forever and a day

We will resist

 

Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan

The occupation will fail

 

Forever and a day

We will resist

 

The Day that Shook the World

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

The Day that Shook the World

 

We should have seen it coming

The writing was on the wall

The day that shook the world

May be the day that we fall

 

Europe stands on edge

Ukraine is on the line

NATO is forming contingencies

For a world that is realigned

 

Vladimir Putin wears a smile

That will last until tomorrow

The dictators are in ecstasy

The free world is in sorrow

 

A new age has begun

Filled with worry and despair

The autocrats are in power

And corporations do not care

 

About the warming of the planet

About protecting human rights

About the fall of a republic

We watch it vanish from our sight

 

The Unseen Hand (of Oppression)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

The Unseen Hand

 

The unseen hand of intimidation

Belongs to the brute of the Kremlin

His presence felt in most every nation

Like a force of voting gremlins

 

They promote stories with clever lies

The truth is altered and deformed

They provide their guilty alibies

They invade like a closing storm

 

From Austria to the Slavic states

From Wisconsin to the Hague

The unseen hand has found its place

Like the scourge of a Russian plague

 

Democracy is on the run

Most everywhere we turn

We cannot rest until it’s done

Let the flames of freedom burn

 

Do not give in, do not despair

The alarm has been sounded

We are rallying the free and fair

On the principles that were founded

 

In ancient Greece and modern Rome

The bricks of our foundation

Democracy has found a home

In the best of civilized nations

 

Despots United

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Despots United

 

When despots act in unity

The dangers are compounded

Bold aggression with impunity

Diplomacy confounded

 

Kim the Grim and Vlad the Bad

Are suddenly best of friends

Nothing positive can be had

When the peace on them depends

 

Kim supplies the warriors

Vladimir supplies the tech

An evil Huck and Tom Sawyer

What looms is a massive wreck

 

The world must stand at ready

When such despots come together

Hold them back and hold it steady

They are birds of a wicked feather

 

They must suffer for their actions

Their communion cannot hold

For all who join their evil faction

The reaction must be bold

 

(3,000 North Korean troops

amass on the Ukrainian border.)

Kim & Putin

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Kim & Putin

 

North Korea is a failed nation

A factory for weapons

A training ground for soldiers

An experiment in autocracy

A home to the darkest web

A warden and a prison state

 

It is a threat to the civilized world

A threat to order and democracy

A threat to its southern neighbors

A scourge on human rights

A disgrace to common decency

 

Now the emblematic rogue nation

Forms alliance with the great aggressor

The beast of the great northern

The man who would be king

 

Korean boots on Ukrainian ground

How much bolder could they be?

Keep the silence. What’s that sound?

Lost respect and dignity

 

You cannot lose what you never had

North Korea is a pariah state

It’s gone to worse from extremely bad

For dignity it’s far too late

Russian Blood on Ukrainian Soil

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE WAR

Russian Blood

 

Hundreds of soldiers die each day

In a war for Ukrainian land

Ukrainians hunker down and pray

As they face their final stand

 

It is a war for pride and greed

It sadly makes your blood boil

Our sense of justice bleeds

Russian blood on Ukrainian soil

 

Three years of bloody killing

Of sending soldiers lost to die

Three years and we’re still willing

While all Russia wonders why

 

The blood is on his filthy hands

A man without a heart

All to boost the Russian brand

To tear the world apart

 

How many lives must pay the cost?

How long will your people toil?

Before you know your cause is lost

Russian blood on Ukrainian soil

 

No Words

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

No Words

 

Masha has no father, no family

She has no words for Vladimir Putin

She is from Kiev

To be from Kiev is to know sorrow

The sorrow of losing loved ones

The sorrow of losing one’s home

The sorrow of losing a life

She has no words for Vladimir Putin

She has only hatred

 

The war drags on like a stubborn storm

Like an illness that won’t go away

An aching throbbing persistent pain

A disease of the heart and soul

Like a never-ending rain

 

We have no words for Vladimir Putin

He has no heart for us

He has no care for human suffering

He has only his ambition

He feels nothing for anyone but his self

 

If the world is to find a way forward

We must move forward without him

He is a growth that must be removed

He is the heart of all our sorrow

We have no more words for him

Only hate

Only pity

Only sorrow

As Election Day Draws Near

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Election Day (Clear Choice)

 

If you believe in a right to choose

The choice is absolutely clear

Down the line your vote is blue

As election day draws near

 

If you believe in a free Ukraine

An untethered Putin you should fear

The truth is absolutely plain

As election day draws near

 

If you want to end the Gaza war

If the genocide draws your tears

There’s only one way to close that door

As election day draws near

 

If you favor our democracy

If the founders you hold dear

If you don’t want an autocracy

The choice is very clear

 

If you believe in labor rights

Your choice is very clear

Who stands beside you in your fight

As election day draws near?

 

If you fear the planet’s warming

As the phony naysayers jeer

If you find the giant storms alarming

Your choice is beyond clear

 

Come November 5: Vote!

 

Indiscriminate Bombing

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: PUTIN

Indiscriminate Bombing

 

Indiscriminate bombing is a crime against humanity

Putin’s bombing of Ukraine is a testament to insanity

He doesn’t care how many die

How many mothers and fathers cry

He is immune to human emotion

Brutality is his method, cruelty his devotion

He is a monster plain and clear

He rules by ruthlessness and fear

When his war comes to an end

He’ll have no allies and no friends

Except the man at Mar-a-Lago

Whose moral founding is Iago

He will be a wanted man

The world will bind him if we can

And we will try him for his crimes

Among the monsters of all time

 

KGB

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: PUTIN

KGB (by any other name)

 

Putin led the KGB

Against all western ways

He practiced his deceptions

He tortured killed and maimed

The villains on the other side

Would never be the same

The KGB it never died

They just changed the name

 

Putin was the KGB

He went against the grain

He lacked all moral grounding

His cruelty was plain

A ruthlessness we can’t abide

The way he played the game

The KGB it never died

They just changed its name

 

The evil forces are in charge

They’re borderline insane

They want to conquer everyone

They’re efforts are in vain

They waited in the shadows

Before the darkness came

The KGB it never died

They just changed its name

 

They took hold of Crimea

Before the invasion of Ukraine

That they want to rule the world

Has become so very plain

If Putin had a conscience

He would live in constant shame

The KGB it never died

They just changed its name

 

Hang Your Head (for RFK Jr.)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Hang Your Head

 

I remember Bobby well

He gave the people hope

What a story he would tell

About his son’s descending slope

 

Bobby stood against the war

In a far-off Asian land

His son stands with Putin

As if he ever gave a damn

 

When he takes the stage with Trump

His father rises from his grave

He’s the child who craves attention

We must implore him to behave

 

You stand against your father’s will

So hang your head in shame

To the mountain you are just a hill

You’ve disgraced the family name

 

We won’t remember Bobby

For the evil that you do

For we know that he opposes

All those who stand with you

(RFK Jr. endorses Trump)

Drones Over Moscow

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

Drones over Moscow

 

What goes up must come down

What moves forward will move back

What you reap will come round

The train called Payback is on track

 

There are drones over Moscow

Armed with deadly force

More than reason would allow

Ukraine will stay on course

 

Vladimir is running scared

How could such a thing occur?

It isn’t right! It isn’t fair!

Let’s go back to how things were

 

But things will not go back

Things are moving straight ahead

Ukraine will launch its next attack

Russia’s forces will be bled

 

Call off your dogs and go home

Bring your war to an end

A losing Russia stands alone

Without an ally or a friend

 

Kidnapper Nation

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RUSSIA

Kidnapper Nation

 

Some kill journalists

Putin leans to kidnapping

You don’t get much for a dead body

You get a spy and a money launderer

An assassin and a weapons dealer

For a living breathing journalist

And a Russian born dissident

Never mind that it lowers the bar

For cruel and ruthless leadership

Putin and his evil ilk

Will not hesitate to arrest, detain

And convict you of espionage

It’s what dictators do for recreation

Putin’s Russia should be added

To the list of primitive nations

And violent lawless states

Do not travel there

Do not contribute to their depravity

Russia is a rogue nation

A nation of thugs and outlaws

She has no place in the world

Of civilized nations

 

The Crack

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE WAR

The Crack

 

A crack in the wall of lies

The myth of Putin’s might

A blow that fate defies

A glimmering of light

 

Ukraine strikes across the border

What now can be done?

What now of Russia’s order?

A war that can’t be won

 

The crack will grow in size

A dark canyon of growing doubt

The Russian people finally rise

To demand that they get out

 

Putin’s madness is now exposed

His infallibility shattered

Remember the day Ukrainians rose

And the Russian conscripts scattered

 

Bring your forlorn soldiers home

While there’s still a chance to save face

Before your nation you stand alone

There is for you no place

 

Kara-Murza Rises

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RUSSIA

Kara-Murza Rises

 

Kara-Murza rises from his cell

He followed in Navalny’s steps

A Russian with a wicked tale to tell

Where some tease Kara-Murza leapt

 

The man has his freedom now

Give thanks to world diplomacy

He swears he’ll carry on now

The dream of Russian democracy

 

We must hope he will be well

In whatever country he chooses

Let us hope he rings that bell

Let us hope the madman loses

 

Navalny is remembered well

Kara-Murza is his voice

He rises from the depths of hell

To help his people win a choice

 

What happens next no one knows

He will work to advance the cause

Ghosts will follow wherever he goes

He must sharpen up his claws

 

The Love Letters

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Love Letters

 

Remember those charming love letters

That our (former) president loved so much

Written with boundless affection

With a gentle and giving touch

 

All of you who have spoken ill

Of the man in the Oval Office

Who have blasted your obscenities

From the beds of moving trucks

If we lived under Kim Jong-un

You would find yourself imprisoned

Incapacitated or worse

Condemned to reeducation

Under the cloud of the leader’s curse

 

Remember the brotherly romance

Of our then president and the Vlad

The animosity that we showed him

Made our leader extremely sad

 

All of you who have expressed doubts

About the sanctity of our elections

If we lived under Putin’s rule

Your votes would be cast out

You children would be sent to fight

For the conquest of Ukraine

Your freedom would be compromised

Beyond all recognition

You would find yourself against a wall

In a compromised position

 

Be grateful for what we have

Be careful not to lose it

If democracy is not your bag

We can end it if you choose it

 

The Nuke

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

The Nuke

 

Vladimir Putin has the nuke

And he’s not afraid to flaunt it

Nuclear subs off the Florida coast

You’ve got war if you want it

 

Such recklessness is rare indeed

Deserves a stern rebuke

A world in danger doesn’t need

A taunting of the nuke

 

He’s willing to destroy the earth

In all his evil glory

To give his evil empire birth

A terrifying story

 

A million lives means nothing

To a man who believes he’s God

He hears a thousand angels sing

He expects us to applaud

 

The world must stand as one against

The threat of annihilation

Cease this path of gross offense

We plead for your salvation