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

 

 

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

 

 

Trump's War of Choice

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: VENEZUELA

 

Trump’s War

 

The president said his piece

He did not mention democracy

On this war it’s plain to see

Maduro is not the beast

 

Trump is the aggressor

He has made it very clear

He’s collecting his investors

As the dominoes fall near

 

As the Epstein files uncoil

This is a war of choice

A war of politics and oil

In which the people have no voice

 

There will be a price to pay

In both blood and reputation

By the hand that we have played

We’ve become a lawless nation

 

This war will haunt us through the years

It will feed our enemies fuel

We have found our own King Lear

Who proved more foolish than his fool

 

When it all is written down

It is a nightmare without end

To this catastrophe we’re bound

Will this wound ever mend?

 

Bombs from America

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: VENEZUELA

 

Bombs from America

 

When the polls turn south in the USA

Bombs will fall on foreign lands

Bush the elder bombed Iraq

Bush the younger Afghanistan

Clinton bombed poor Kosovo

Barack Obama sent his drones

Donald Trump was a bit slow

Trying it out in Iran and Syria

Letting it go in Nigeria

Now deciding Maduro must go

It’s all for oil and show

 

When bombs lit up the Caracas sky

We didn’t need to wonder why

Trump has lost his hold on power

His loyal followers have soured

That’s why he’s turned to war

A settling of old forgotten scores

 

America is no longer first

It isn’t second, third or fourth

In Venezuela it’s much worse

For Trump has set his course

He’s a war president now

Sit back and watch the Dow

Many will die before it’s through

That much we know is true

 

No Peace

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

No Peace

 

There is no peace in Syria

where forever war still reigns

in Yemen or Nigeria

where war’s an old refrain

 

In Gaza there’s no peace

in Israel or Ukraine

in Russia there’s a beast

whose war is now ingrained

 

There is no peace in Pakistan

the old war rages on

no peace in Afghanistan

the Taliban is not gone

 

There’s no peace in any nation

where the iron fist is strong

there is no celebration

where everything is wrong

 

There is no peace in India

in China or Taiwan

in Asia or in Africa

in Thailand or Saigon

 

There is no peace in Paris

in Berlin or Brazil

as long as terror scares us

the threat of war is real

 

 

Shockwaves over Caracas

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR

 

Shockwaves over Caracas

 

Venezuela is in turmoil

Maduro has been captured

America claims her oil

On this winter day the third

 

Bright flames light up the sky

Explosions fill the air

The world must wonder why

This president has dared

 

He thinks they will surrender

Without offering up a fight

But this day they’ll remember

For the dimming of the light

 

All the world must now tremble

In fear and trepidation

The world order is dissembled

By a rogue and brutish nation

 

Like Russia in Ukraine

Without cause or provocation

Our actions leave a stain

There can be no salvation

 

We’ve learned nothing from the past

A war for oil in Iraq

Unlawful gains will never last

Once they absorb the shock