Vindication of a Madman

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

 

Vindication of a Madman

 

It was vengeance drove the man insane

It was rage that boiled his blood

All efforts to calm him were in vain

Like sinking in a pit of toxic mud

 

He called out for the heads of all

He would sever them one by one

He saw their courage and let them fall

He would hold them under the gun

 

When his henchmen moved too slowly

He put each of them in chains

It enraged him more just knowing

They dared go against the grain

 

He struck out blindly in all directions

No one dared stand in his way

They were all agents of some infection

They would not outlive the day

 

His whole life now is dark and dreary

All his friends are out the door

All this vengeance made him weary

All this madness made him sore

 

British Boots on Ukrainian Soil

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

British Boots on Ukrainian Soil

 

Filling the void that America left

They offer boots on the ground

In answer to Putin’s bloody theft

To Ukraine the British are bound

 

So which side will America take

When it’s Europe allied with Ukraine

Against the leader all forsake

Our loyalties are less than plain

 

We know that he and Putin are close

They act as if they’re brothers

Will he choose the hand of Vladimir

In cold defiance of all others?

 

Our president’s made it very clear

He despises all on Europe’s soil

While he holds his fellows very dear

He’s enthralled with Putin’s oil

 

So when it comes to Ukraine’s freedom

He will not reveal his hand

He’ll throw out fits of obscenities

But he will not take a stand

 

(Britain does not rule out boots

on the ground in Ukraine.)

 

The Fate of Ukraine

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

The Fate of Ukraine

 

The fate of Ukraine is in our hands

So many people have died

So much violence and bloodshed

For the sake of one man’s pride

 

We know this war must someday end

That day is coming soon

Ukraine will lose its strongest friend

The waning of the moon

 

They will leave a trail of brutality

The armies of the north

A bitter cruel reality

They’ve marked a tragic course

 

A proud and sovereign nation

Has paid a price in blood

In a war of deprivation

The stream became a flood

 

The invader on his bloody horse

The Kremlin’s mighty fist

If fate would hold its brutal course

Ukraine will not exist

 

The Mandate

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Mandate

 

The people have spoken

In the language of the electoral college

A victory for the party of Musk

The party of Trump

The party of Vladimir Putin

 

A rejection of the party of tomorrow

That never finds its way to today

The party of hope that never finds reality

The party of old-timers

The party of promises

The party of Old Joe and Nancy

The party that talks a good game

But never quite delivers

 

A rejection of the party in power

That transcends all other factors

An affirmation of discontent

Throw all the bums out!

 

Through mass media propaganda

Gerrymandering and unlimited funding

The party of rage and discontent

Steamrolled the electorate

Toppling all branches of government

Including the people’s house

By the very thinnest of margins

 

There is no mandate here

Or if there is

It is a mandate of confusion

It is a mandate of negation

It is a mandate that waits

For the next chance

To say No again

 

Putin: Without Restraint

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

Putin: Without Restraint

 

Bombing without restrictions

Killing without restraint

Killing journalists and children

They will hear no complaints

 

Kiev is in tatters

Ukraine is bombed to shreds

Putin does not care

How many families are dead

 

There’s a new sheriff coming

He will arrive in several weeks

Kill as many as you can

You can’t be seen as weak

 

They are killing throughout Kharkiv

Luhansk is laid to waste

Any chance of lasting peace

Will be lost in Putin’s haste

 

To slaughter all their enemies

To alienate their friends

To kill with full abandon

Before the war can end

 

The Streets of Tbilisi

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

The Streets of Tbilisi

 

Three nights of protest on the streets of Tbilisi

A rage against the government that will not quell

Riot police use violent means

Turning the streets into Georgian hell

 

The government caved to Russian interests

After fraud claimed the latest election

Civil servants and ambassadors resigned

A massive representative defection

 

The Georgian people wish to join the union

To move away from the Russian beast

They are waging a war for democracy

They want their meddling to cease

 

The Russians are fighting on a dozen fronts

They are swimming against the tide

They are running short on resources

Lending strength to freedom’s ride

 

The struggle does not end here and now

They will carry it forward forever

If you ask them when they will surrender

They will answer with pride: Never!

 

Oil on the Fire

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

Oil on the Fire

 

We all know who’s to blame

The cold aggressor in this war

North Koreans in the flames

You have brought them to the door

Now you want Ukraine to fold

You warn of consequence most dire

Because your enemies grow bold

You call it oil on the fire

 

Would you have them raise their hands?

Should they surrender to your might?

We all know what you have planned

Ukraine would vanish from our sight

 

You’ve put your bankroll on the table

Now you are counting on your friends

To fight as long as you are able

Before this horror finds an end

You’ll swear you never felt a threat

Though you have wallowed in the mire

The mighty Kremlin is in debt

You’ve poured oil on the fire

 

(Putin accuses the US of throwing

oil on the fire: ATACMS missiles.)

 

Putin's Gamble

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: PUTIN

Putin’s Gamble

 

What he could not accomplish

on the battlefields of Ukraine

He has accomplished on the

stage of American politics

 

Where he could not succeed

in France or the Netherlands

He has triumphed in the vast

open plains and the industrial

Midwest and the deep southern

forests of America

 

He gambled it all

on the wickedly flawed

American electoral laws

 

He gambled it all

on a conman from Queens

with his propaganda machine

 

The whole world will attest

Putin won the west

and with it he won Ukraine

 

North Korea Crosses the Line

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Korea Crosses the Line

 

Japan and South Korea in the East China Sea

Sending Xi Jinping a warning sign

Crossing swords with the Philippines

While North Korea crosses the line

 

The Russians are emboldened

By the election in the west

A new deal with the dear leader

Will their new weapons pass the test?

Meanwhile Trump is almost giddy

Netanyahu is his special guest

While most of Europe is in mourning

The autocrats are feeling fine

The Ukrainians are in panic

North Korea has crossed the line

 

What kind of world are we handing down?

To an undeserving generation?

A world of warming wayward bound

Years of war and devastation

 

Is it too late to sound a warning?

Is it too late to make a change?

We are in the age of warming

With all solutions out of range

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