Notorious MTG

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Notorious MTG

 

They love her in the Kremlin

She’s as sweet as she could be

Her loyalty is steadfast

The best they’ve ever seen

She puts it on the line

She’s crude, loud and mean

Vladimir says she’s fine

Marjorie Taylor Greene

 

One day she’ll fly to Moscow

To meet her only friend

But he will only laugh at her

With a message he will send:

You were a useful idiot

There is no more to say

No one really likes you

It’s just a game we play

 

So Marjorie is alone now

No one to hold her hand

No one on the phone now

To say they understand

Nobody really cares now

What Marjorie says or does

She’s no longer in the loop

There is no Marjorie buzz

 

316 to 94 (Aid to Ukraine)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

316 – 94

 

The vote on the floor of the House

Ukraine 316, Russia 94

Zelensky 316, Putin 94

Biden 316, Trump 94

 

The vote left no doubt

America is still America

The Putin caucus lost its pull

Crushed by a wave of patriotism

Battered by old-time allegiance

We will not be the reason

The Soviet empire was reborn

The Iron Curtain reforged

The world redivided into us and them

The free world and the oppressed

We will not return to the Cold War

(a war that was never cold)

We will not yield democracy to Europe

Not yet

Not this time

 

We are America and we will not

go down without a fight

We will hold our ground

with a new coalition

A coalition of democrats and republicans

Small d and small r

We will defend our birthright

Our legacy and our ideals

Unite in purpose and cause

 

(House passes foreign aid bill 316-94.)

 

The Irony

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Irony

 

A change in the Oval Office promises

To bring a purge of the government

A purge of the FBI

A purge of the people’s house

A purge of the electorate

A purge of American citizenship

Just like the Red Scare of the fifties

 

The irony is:

This time the Reds will be doing the purge

This time the litmus test requires

An alliance to the Beast of the East

A betrayal of NATO

The abandonment of Ukraine

 

They call it America first

But it is Russia calling the shots

They call national patriotism

But it is loyalty to an adversary

They call it the voice of the people

But the people fall silent

In shock and awe

 

What have we done?

How can we make amends?

 

It is far easier to lose a democracy

Than it is to gain it back

 

Moral Dilemma

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

Moral Dilemma

 

I believe in my bones conscription is wrong

As an army of conscripts is weak

I believe that the cause of Ukraine is strong

But the prospect grows dimmer to bleak

 

It is a dilemma that cannot be unwound

They are fighting a brutal beast

Yet they stand on shaky moral ground

Which path is offensive the least?

 

There must be a way to defeat this foe

Without becoming what we detest

The price for aggressive war must grow

In unity from the east to the west

 

The affront of Russia must never prevail

This evil must be stopped in its tracks

The way of war must be derailed

An end to all imperialist attacks

 

Until then we live in compromise

Until then these wars will not end

Until this world becomes more wise

Our moral foundations must bend

 

Moscow Carnage

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RUSSIA

Moscow Carnage

 

An attack on art

Is an attack on humanity

The attack outside of Moscow

On a gathering of concert goers

(like the concert goers in Israel)

Is beyond the pale inhuman

The perpetrators of the massacre

Though they wear religious guise

Are the scum of the earth

Self-righteous killers

Beneath contempt

 

But those who blame Ukraine

Knowing well the lie they tell

Deserve a one-way ticket

Straight to hell

 

How many concert halls and schools

Were targeted in Ukraine

How many hospitals and libraries

How many gyms and shopping malls

 

Those who attacked the Crocus Concert

Hall are evil terrorists

Just as Russia under Vladimir Putin

Is an evil terrorist nation

 

Don't Give Up!

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RUSSIA

Don’t Give Up (for Navalny)

 

They gathered in the heart of winter

In the belly of the beast

Knowing they could lose their lives

Knowing they could lose their freedom

Knowing they could lose their jobs …

They gathered to say goodbye

 

The martyr would have approved

In the event of his death he said:

It’s simple. Don’t give up!

It’s simple. Don’t give in.

The monster is afraid of them

Why else would he murder him?

Why else grant his martyrdom?

 

If everything is fine behind the curtain

If everything is under control

If the people are truly satisfied

If the people are content

If the people understand the war

If the people want oppression

If the people do not want their rights

If the people love their leader

Why is he afraid?

 

He is afraid the people love Navalny

He is afraid their love for him is false

He is afraid they see through his lies

He’s afraid they are not happy

He’s afraid of the martyr’s widow

He’s afraid of Navalny’s followers

He’s afraid they will rise

He’s afraid they will not give up

He’s afraid they won’t give in

Yulia Navalnaya

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

Yulia Navalnaya

 

She is the widow of a hero

She is the widow of a martyr

She has sacrificed enough

We can ask of her no more

Yet she steps forward

 

She was his heart and soul

She gave to him her strength

She gave her love unselfishly

Asking little in return

His death should be an end

She is entitled to begin again

Yet she rises

 

She knows the danger

She knows as well as anyone

They killed her husband for speaking out

They’ve killed others for less

They kill journalists and dissidents

They imprison the oppressed

Yet she speaks out

 

We should all possess her courage

But we do not

We should all stand up for justice

But we do not

We should all feel her agony

Her passion and her rage

But we do not

 

If she must stand alone she would

But she will not

Share My Rage

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RUSSIA

Share My Rage (for Yulia)

 

We listen to her passion

Her sorrow and her rage

Her husband has been murdered

Upon the global stage

She brings a simple message

From the fullness of her heart

Do not forget his sacrifice

Do not forget his cause

He would not want our sympathy

He would not want applause

He would want us to remember him

And why he gave his life

To give his country freedom

To give his people basic rights

Trump to NATO: Drop Dead!

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Trump to NATO: Drop Dead!

 

He doesn’t know our history

And frankly does not care

The future is no mystery

We’re caught in Putin’s lair

If Donald wins the White House

We’d better say our prayers

Before we lay down to our beds

For Trump will say to NATO:

Drop dead!

 

He loves the world’s dictators

From Erdogan to Xi *

He finds them most appealing

As he considers what will be

An American dictator

Would lead a new alliance

Democracies not welcome

A new Europe in defiance

The world will long remember

The day the Donald said:

Dear NATO: Drop Dead!

 

* pronounced She

Navalny!

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RUSSIA

Navalny!

 

Alexei Navalny is dead

At the age of forty-seven

In the prime of life

Dead in an arctic gulag

Dead of unknown causes

Dead of voicing dissent

Dead of rising to prominence

Dead of speaking eloquently

Dead of exposing corruption

Dead of opposing oppression

Dead of defying Vladimir Putin

 

We know what killed Navalny

We know who was behind it

On the eve of a mock election

We know who killed Navalny

And the tears of Mother Russia

Rain down across the land

And the tears of Russian mothers

Join the tears of Russian soldiers

And the rivers rise in sorrow

 

Here was a man who knew

Here was a man who towered

Here was a man who spoke out

When so many others fell silent

Here was a man who gave his life

So that others might live free

 

Navalny!

 

Let his name outlive his tormentors

Let his dream live on forever

A Vote for War

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Antiwar Vote

 

Do not be fooled into thinking that

A vote for Trump is a vote for peace

For while Trump would surrender Ukraine

War would envelop the Middle East

 

He has no knowledge of our alliances

On which our security depends

Netanyahu is sworn to war forever

And he is Trump’s sworn friend

 

A vote for Trump is a vote for Vlad

A vote for Vlad is a vote for war

All of Europe trembles at the thought

Of the horrors that lie in store

 

After Russia conquers Ukraine

At a cost of a million lives

He will take aim at Sweden

And Poland may not survive

 

So if you wish to vote for peace

Know well who you’re voting for

A vote for Trump is a vote for Putin

A vote for Putin is a vote for war

 

Democracy under Fire

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Democracy under Fire

 

There can be no democracy

when the people are under the gun

You cannot have fair elections

when you’re allowed to kill the opposition

 

In El Salvador the people have

embraced a brutal dictatorship

In Pakistan abuse of justice has

altered the balance of power

In Hungary the free press and lawful

opposition have been banned

In Turkey they crush the forces of

democracy by all means necessary

In Russia they imprison dissidents

and hold mock elections

In Afghanistan and Iran there is

only one voice

In America democracy balances

on the head of a pin

 

A raging fire of brutality spreads

Flames fanned by criminal enterprise

Roaming gangs of rapists and killers

The promise of order without law

The desperation of common people

The desire for a simple life

 

Democracy cannot exist where lives

are in constant upheaval

Where everything you have can

be taken away by criminals

Where the fundamental needs of

the people are denied

 

And yet democracy is the only

answer to the usurpation of power

Only democracy can defeat lawlessness

Only democracy can provide for the

needs of the people

 

When it is gone you will learn

When it is gone you will understand

how difficult it is to get it back again

 

Dark before Dawn

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

Dark before Dawn

 

All the chips are stacked against you

Your back is up against the wall

There is no one you can turn to

There is no one you can call

It seems the fateful tide is turning

Like the rush before the fall

You have let your hopes be taken

In the morning you’ll be gone

It always seems the darkest before dawn

 

We will rise again tomorrow

We will find a way to bend

We will melt into the shadows

With a message we will send

They have only won the battle

It’s not over till the end

We will find a deeper courage

We will sing our mourning song

It always seems the darkest before dawn

 

We will fight with all our strength

We will refuse to give in

When it seems we’ve reached the end

We will begin again

For we are on the side of justice

For the righteous we will win

We must defeat an enemy

Whose cause is dark and wrong

It always seems the darkest before dawn

 

(for Ukraine)