Too Much

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DONALD TRUMP

Too Much

 

We used to wonder why they showed him so much

Now we wonder why they show him so little

The man is desperately out of touch

Like a hoedown without a fiddle

 

If it wasn’t so critical he’d have my pity

He is rapidly losing his mind

In every town and every city

His simple reasoning is hard to find

 

The world is balanced on the edge of a cliff

It is barreling swiftly out of control

We dare not ask what would happen if

It was up to a man who is not whole

 

We have watched him unravel over the years

We have seen the decline of his brain

We must acknowledge our darkest fears

Before our nation goes down the drain

 

We know it will happen to the best of us

It can be hard for us to accept

But the time will come as come it must

To understand he’s beyond his depth

 

Hope Rises

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Hope Rises

 

The night belongs to hope

A memory of the past

When they dwelled in the White House

Somehow we knew it would not last

But here on this Chicago night

Our hopes begin to stir

They linger in the rafters

The thought of how things were

When a man with funny ears

And a rhythm to his step

Led with calm and dignity

A mood that never slept

He lifted us with words

He calmed us through the night

With him we always knew

It would all turn out right

So now they bring a message

That hope will always rise

When good people come together

And answer to the cry:

Freedom, hope and dignity

Comfort us once more

They speak and we remember

What we’re fighting for

 

(The Obamas at the DNC)

Manchurian Candidate

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Manchurian Candidate

 

“I don’t really care what happens to

Ukraine.”  J.D. Vance

 

The man has no backbone

No conviction or restraint

In his grand quest for power

A man of principle he ain’t

 

He once stood for justice

And the American way

But the man he once was

Is not the man he is today

 

He has sold his very soul

For a chance at that ring

He would eat a lump of coal

He would do anything

 

He would kiss the man’s boot

If there is something to gain

It took him less than a second

To sacrifice Ukraine

 

He will bow to the Don

The Don bows to the Vlad

As for our democracy

The prognosis is bad

 

America Found

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

America Found (the Awakening)

 

We have lost our way before

We are not a perfect nation

We regarded the protectors of the land

As something less than human

As beasts to be exterminated

Or tamed and put in cages

It took centuries to awaken

To know the error of our ways

But we have awakened

To set forth a better day

 

We enslaved generations of blacks

We denied their basic humanity

We put them in chains

When they demanded their freedom

We hunted them down like rabid dogs

We whipped and hobbled them

We killed and raped them

It took centuries to awaken

To accept the truth that we betrayed

But we have awakened

To a more enlightened way

 

We have fought unprovoked wars

Unjust wars of mass destruction

We have followed poor leaders

We have embraced corporate greed

We have turned the clock backwards

We have stripped away rights

We have sanctioned child labor

We have done evil things

In our God’s holy name

But we have always awakened

In the spirit of righteous shame

 

Foundations of Law

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE

Foundations of Law

 

Justice is the foundation of law

If it is not the law becomes tyranny

Or rather an instrument of tyranny

Belonging to a tyrant

 

When the Supreme Court entertains

the notion of assassination for political

purpose as legal and beyond reproach

we are in grave danger

 

The attorneys for the United States are

too modest in their questioning

They should ask: if the president believes

in his heart and soul that certain justices

of the Supreme Court pose an imminent and

existential threat to American democracy

and the rule of law, could he order their

assassination as an official act without fear

of legal recourse?

 

Case closed. 

 

Neo Nazis in Nashville

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Neo Nazis in Nashville

 

Nashville is a city of music

A city of diversity

A city that embraces art and artists

A city that opens her arms to

To troubadours and vagabonds

Who want a better life

A city that welcomes the dreamers

And the dream

 

The city of music must hang

Her head in shame

As neo-Nazi white supremacists

Boldly march her streets

With chants of blatant bigotry

With chants of racial prejudice

Jews will not replace us!

Make America white again!

 

Will the city leaders find the courage

To denounce them one and all

Will the public office holders condemn

Them in bold and certain terms

Or will the nation’s patriots be

Forced to take reciprocal action

Boycott Nashville!

Boycott the city of music

Until she recognizes the truth and

Value of her diversity

Overcome (for MLK)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Overcome 

 

The sickness and the sorrow

Invades my soul this day

Of all the things I know

No one reveals the way

I don’t know where I’m going

I don’t know where I’m from

And yet I still believe

We shall overcome

 

I walked a lonely mile

With Bobby and the King

I marched into the setting sun

When he sang Let Freedom Ring!

There’s nothing left of them

But the instrument I strum

And yet I still have faith

We shall overcome

 

We overcame the monarch

We overcame the Klan

We overcame the royalists

Who fought the Rights of Man

I hear the soldiers crying out

The pounding of the drums

We will not turn and run this day

We shall overcome

 

I bathed in sacred waters

I reached a distant shore

When hunger stood before me

I knocked upon the door

She said I have no whiskey

But I’ve got a little rum

I shed a tear of joy and said

We shall overcome

 

The Storming of the People's House

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Storming of the People’s House

 

The people of Paris stormed the Bastille

14 July 1789 to overthrow a despotic

government. A monarchy, an aristocracy,

hereditary succession, a royal king.

 

In Washington the people stormed congress

6 January 2021 to overthrow an elected

president, to install a monarchy, hereditary

succession, an aristocratic king. 

 

The storming of the Bastille toppled the

king, introduced the guillotine and begat

the Reign of Terror, a river of blood that

swallowed its leader: Maximilien

Robespierre.

 

The storming of the people’s house fell

short of its goal, dozens of instigators

captured and jailed while its leader went

free, opening the door to a period of

uncertainty and the promise of revenge.

 

The storming of the Bastille was a turning

point in history; one by one the monarchs

fell, replaced by elected governments,

representative democracies that shined

from Europe to across the sea. 

 

The storming of the people’s house is an

unfinished story: a defense of democracy

or its tragic fall? A period of unrest or a

reign of terror? For better or for worse,

let the people decide. 

 

The Russian Party of America

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Russian Party (RPA)

 

The Russian Party of America

Is on the front line in the war

Putin is the high commander

Trump is holding the door

 

The Speaker of the House

Is hardly worth his weight

He’s lost all of his authority

To control his party’s fate

 

The party of Ronald Reagan

Would not recognize itself

Instead of trust but verify

They’ll send us straight to hell

 

Soon the leader of our nation

Could owe allegiance to another

Like the child of another mother

We would be Putin’s little brother

 

In a world that’s lost its balance

When on balance we depend

We risk losing our democracy

From which we’ll never make amends

 

Serving Putin

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Serving Putin

 

We are not fooled

You are not the party of peace

You have always found money

To finance your wars of choice

You’ve even cooked the books

To hide your military spending

You have not suddenly found a conscience

You have not suddenly seen the light

You have not tired of endless wars

You’ve not grown weary of the fight

 

Your party has a new master now

He has transformed you into fools

You bow before his majesty

You cater to his rules

If he says jump you say how high?

You’ve become his lowly tools

 

But your master has a master too

His name is Vladimir

When he cries you all shed a tear

He tells you when and what to do

 

He’s losing on the battlefield

He is losing his great war

His last best chance at triumph is

To convince us it’s not worth fighting for

 

He has his American allies

Just like the Nazis did

When Trump tells us we can’t win

He’s bidding Putin’s bid

 

Backward March

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Backward March

 

The backward march to darker times

When white men held all power

Like digging a hole to make a climb

Or knocking down the tallest towers

 

The way of darkness claims the light

But the message is not divine

The evil doers proclaim the right

But their water does not change to wine

 

They lead us boldly to a certain past

When the order of things was clear

But the old days were not meant to last

Though some may hold them dear

 

We will endure these brutal days

When human rights were in retreat

Somehow someday we’ll find a way

To march to a forward beat

The Pledge (America)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Pledge (Equality for All)

 

America!

Never have you woven such a tale

A man so brazen and so craven

All tests of credibility would fail

 

America!

We have chosen crooked men before

The epically immoral and amoral

But never one so twisted to the core

 

America!

You will survive this horrible attack

There always has and will be traitors

But the people rise to fight it back

 

America!

Your history is one of moral compromise

Genocide and slavery and liberty denied

In time you’ve learned to be more wise

 

America!

Bow your head in mortal shame

We should have known he was a snake

Take a vow to never say his name

 

America!

We stand as one and fight for you

You are the greatest hope of humankind

We pray your cause is just and true

 

America!

We work so that your honor will not fall

For everyone who pledges to your flag

For liberty justice and equality for all

 

Birth of the Nation

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Birth of the Nation

 

Two hundred forty-seven years ago

We founded a new nation

Rich in ideals and principles

Poor in integrity

Crippled with hypocrisy

 

For two hundred forty-seven years

We have advanced and retreated

Fought for a better world

Yielded to degradation

Fought for justice and equality

Fought for slavery and genocide

 

We have expanded the electorate

We have pulled it back again

We have enshrined justice for all

But withheld it for minorities

 

We were born with great promise

For all of humankind

To not know we have fallen short

One would have to be blind

 

The greatness of our nation

Is that we always push ahead

We acknowledge our shortcomings

We pay tribute to the dead

 

We may never find the answers

But we will always find a way

To improve the way things are

To ensure a better day