India and Russia

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: INDIA

 

Russia and India

 

When you’re in bed with a beast

A rank purveyor of war

Do not pretend you love peace

Your reputation is less than poor

 

Modi wants what Putin has

A stranglehold on power

He’ll play the game as long as

It is not the China hour

 

The man from Moscow plays it cool

Both sides against the middle

The American is his fool

But Modi is his fiddle

 

China’s Xi remains a mystery

In this strange triangulation

It will go down in modern history

The day that Modi sold his nation

 

For just a moment in the sun

With the planet’s greatest threat

By the time this deal is done

They will be buried in Russian debt

 

 

Putin's Shadow

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

Putin’s Shadow

 

In the shadow of aggression

All of Europe is on alert

History has taught a lesson

Pressing though it may hurt

 

Germany has raised the alarm

With incentives to build their forces

Although none would wish to harm

There are few alternative courses

 

The continent must be prepared

For whatever the beast has in mind

If captured in the monster’s lair

The world would be in a bind

 

Conscription is an unthinkable crime

Let us hope we’re not headed there

The road ahead is a difficult climb

Every nation must do its share

 

Denmark is drafting women

France is offering more

Finland expands its conscription

In preparation for a coming war

 

We pray for a world in peace

For an end to wars of all kinds

But the Kremlin is home to a beast

To that fact we cannot be blind

 

 

Rewarding Aggression

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

Rewarding Aggression (Ukraine)

 

A brutal legacy of destruction

The invasion of Ukraine

We demand its reconstruction

Reparations in the main

 

You cannot reward aggression

If you want a world of peace

The time has come for this lesson

The brutality must cease

 

All of Europe is united

They have frozen Russian funds

This wrong cannot be righted

Without depleting Russian guns

 

So many lives have been lost

We all know who’s to blame

The one and only Kremlin boss

Whose lasting mark is shame

 

Take away all his wealth

Strip him of his power

He has claimed it all by stealth

Make him face his final hour

 

Let him roam the barren earth

A man who walks alone

Let his home be built of dirt

Let his comfort be his groans

 

The War Must End

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR

 

The War Must End

 

The people of Gaza are tired of war

The Israeli people must bend

Let the waves of hatred be no more

It is time for the war to end

 

The Russian people have had their fill

Too long the Ukrainians defend

Their leaders must swallow a bitter pill

It is time for the war to end

 

Yet Putin will never give up the fight

As long as his pride depends

As long as the people believe he’s right

This war will never end

 

The Israelis will bomb to the end of days

As long as there’s money to spend

Their destructive might is on display

And the war will never end

 

When the Russian people are ready for peace

This message they will send

Putin’s vengeance must finally cease

It’s time for the war to end

 

When the Israeli people are ready for peace

This message they will send

Netanyahu’s war must finally cease

It is time for the war to end

 

As long as vengeance rules the day

The wounds of war will not mend

Subversion will always find a way

And the wars will never end

 

Twenty Thousand

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

Twenty Thousand

 

For you who do not support Ukraine

In their struggle to remain free

Maybe this truth will make it plain

Twenty thousand kids who did not flee

But were captured and taken away

To be retrained and made to see

That Russia was not the enemy

That Ukraine was just a myth

A ghost nation that does not exist

 

Twenty thousand kids torn away

Ripped from their mother’s arms

And programmed to go insane

With a cold promise to do no harm

To take up arms against Ukraine

 

No reason for alarm

Resistance is in vain

 

If this is not evil to the core

If indeed it does not break your heart

It is no use to tell you more

You too were programmed from the start

To see what you were told to see

To doubt what you are told to doubt

 

Those poor kids were never free

Russia only helped them out

 

Provocation

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RUSSIA

 

Provocation

 

He is the neighborhood bully

Poking your friend in the chest

If we could understand it fully

It is a provocation to the west

 

Drones over Europe

Fighter jets in NATO airspace

A strategy of drip drip drip

Putting NATO in its place

 

It is a reckless game

That only Putin would engage

But it is more of the same

From the man on center stage

 

Will he stimulate defiance?

Another war, an arms race?

Will he weaken the alliance?

Will he back down with grace?

 

In the days and years ahead

He will put us to the test

It could be a world of dread

Unless we unify the west

 

Drones over Poland

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Drones over Poland

 

Russia is testing the west

Sending drones over Polish skies

Putin is pounding his chest

To see how the allies fly

 

The threat is abundantly clear

They’re pushing as far as they can

An agenda designed to spread fear

Throughout all western lands

 

NATO must stand united

Against the allies of Russian aggression

These wrongs can only be righted

With a strong, united expression

 

Ukraine will not be the lamb

Sacrificed to appease the beast

Together the alliance must stand

To demand the aggressor cease

 

Only then will the world find peace

Only then will aggression end

The path of resistance least

Is that NATO will not bend

 

America the Free

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

America the Free

 

This is not the Philippines

Where Duterte had his reign

We know what independence means

We will not be restrained

 

This is not Beijing

Where they have an iron fist

Where freedom has no meaning

Where they keep an enemies list

 

This is not the Kremlin

Where Putin is their king

Where dissenters are imprisoned

Where elections are a sting

 

This is not Pyongyang

In service to dear leader

When Lady Liberty rang

They replied they didn’t need her

 

This is the land of liberty

America the free

Where individuality

Belongs to you and me

 

This is the land of light

No man above the law

Where fundamental rights

Are not considered flaws

 

Where everyone is free

To speak as they will speak

To be what they would be

To seek what they would seek

 

 

The Nordic Front

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

The Nordic Front

 

Putin made a fool of our president

Laying on the authoritarian charm

But he signed a deal that delivered

To Kiev most critical arms

 

Funded by the Nordic front

Sweden, Denmark and Norway *

We hope that Russians feel the brunt

Before their attentions stray

 

America will not take the lead

All of Europe will do their share

We no longer feel a pressing need

The burden now is theirs

 

But the Nordic front is next in line

If his thirst is not contained

Poland, Hungary, Liechtenstein

May begin to feel the strain

 

For now it is a regional war

Confined to former Soviet states

But victory leads to desire for more

Wake up before it’s too late

 

America will be left behind

With a leader who is sleeping

And a congress that is nearly blind

May leave the whole world weeping

 

* and the Netherlands

 

Putin and Xi

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Putin and Xi (and Modi)

 

Putin meets with Xi

The monster of the north

Meets the beast of the east

What does it mean going forth?

 

The invasion carries on

As the monster stakes his claim

The whole world knows he’s wrong

We will not forget Ukraine

 

Kiev expresses fear

That America will refrain

That the end is drawing near

But we won’t forget Ukraine

 

Ukraine would be the first

But it would not be the last

Nor would it be the worst

Another war would come to pass

 

Thanks to Putin and to Xi

The end of human rights

A massive loss of dignity

Democracy in plight

 

Now Modi joins the fray

On the wrong side of the line

From the republic he will stray

To lead his nation in decline

 

 

Balance of Powers

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Balance of Powers

 

Russia is an imperialist nation

The United States* should know

We’ve tried our hand at occupation

We wanted our empire to grow

 

We tried to conquer Afghanistan

After the Soviets came up short

We tried to conquer Vietnam

To make Saigon an American fort

 

We tried to subjugate Iraq

In the false name of democracy

Forced to give their country back

And admit our own hypocrisy

 

I truly hope we’ve changed our ways

But no one can be sure

When we invade we tend to stay

Our motives aren’t quite pure

 

Now Putin wants his empire

He wants Georgia and Ukraine

He’d rather set it all on fire

Than admit it’s all in vain

 

The world is balanced between powers

Russia, China and the western states

As we near the final reckoning hour

We must place our trust in fate

 

* United States of America

 

The Fate of Ukraine

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

The Fate of Ukraine

 

Ukraine is a sovereign state

In whole or in part?

Subject to negotiations

That long forgotten art

 

Zelensky may not attend

Discussions of his country’s fate

Europe’s promise to defend

Ukraine may come too late

 

Trump and Putin will decide

The nature of this “compromise”

They think Zelensky must abide

Despite the fact that Putin lies

 

Will we reward his war crimes?

His brazen act of aggression?

If we give him what he wants this time

What then will be the lesson?

 

That power trumps the force of law

That nations can be occupied

That everything we know is flawed

That decency can be defied

 

Do not allow this travesty

This outrageous abomination

For that would be a tragedy

Akin to subjugation

 

Protests in Kiev

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

Protests in Kiev

 

Divisions in the ranks

Protests in Ukraine

Rubles in the bank

All efforts are in vain

 

Putin puts his dirty hands

In places they don’t belong

A sour note inside the band

Will fracture every song

 

It’s hard to maintain unity

In the face of constant pressure

But unity is what we need

With faith in equal measure

 

Russian hands are everywhere

Beware the infiltrators

Pretending that they really care

When all along they’re traitors

 

Do not forget democracy

Without it we are lost

We can’t afford hypocrisy

One man is not the boss

 

BRICS in the Wall

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

BRICS in the Wall

 

Lula took aim at the US of A

The Saudis looked on silently

The Iranians had much to say

The Emirates could hardly breathe

 

They all blasted the Israelis

As they were right to do

The Palestinians are on their knees

With no one left to sue

 

But when you blast the warmongers

Yet fall silent on Ukraine

You should hold your tongues longer

Before singing that refrain

 

The Russians have no virtue

The Chinese little more

Give credit wherever it is due

Give none to the masters of war

 

Stand up for all democracies

Oppose the bold oppressors

Call out all those hypocrisies

As something less than lesser