Parade of Pariahs in Moscow

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Parade of Pariahs

 

In the parade of pariahs

Showing solidarity with the beast of brutality

from the northern empire

The most surprising of these is

Lula da Silva of Brazil

We expect little of those nations that live

in the shadow of the former Soviet empire

We expect little of the Chinese dictator

We expect nothing less from those who

survive at the mercy of Russian military aid

But we expect better of Lula

The elder statesman who revived Brazilian democracy

The man who defeated the Trumpian tyrant wannabe

Even Modi of India refused the embarrassment

of associating with the world’s leading oppressors

The republic of the United States of America is

suffering at the moment but we have not stooped

to the level of Vladimir Putin

It is you who should be embarrassed now

You betray your own democratic ideals

You give legitimacy to the invasion of Ukraine

Step back, Lula da Silva, and reevaluate

Russian oil and military aid is not worth the

sacrifice of sacred principles

 

The Martyrdom of Darya Kozyreva

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: PUTIN'S RUSSIA

 

Darya

 

Darya Kozyreva is nineteen

She loves poetry and yearns for freedom

Darya Kozyreva will spend three years

in the gulag for poetic dissidence

 

She pasted a verse from a Ukrainian poet *

on his statue in St Petersburg Square:

 

O bury me, then rise ye up

And break your heavy chains

And water with the tyrant’s blood

The freedom you have gained

 

It did not use the tyrant’s name

It did not need to

It didn’t mention the war in Ukraine

It was self-evident

 

Darya Kozyreva was a known dissident

Now she is a known hero

She valued truth over her own freedom

She felt the suffering of her Ukrainian friends

She refused to remain silent

 

She is one of hundreds in Russian jails

For speaking out against their president

For speaking out against his dirty war

 

In America we do not imprison dissidents

We detain and deport foreign students

For writing anti-Israeli editorials

 

In America we find more creative ways

to punish those who criticize the president

and his oppressive policies

 

We are not Russia but we are on the path

that Putin laid out before us

where dissent is outlawed

and public protest is treason

where even listening to an opposing view

is a punishable offense

 

* Taras Shevchenko

Open Letter to the Russian People

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RUSSIA

 

Open Letter

 

People of Russia I humbly speak

I appeal to your humanity

If peace is what you seek

Do not yield to your vanity

Don’t believe that we are weak

 

You are not your dark leader

We are not the same as ours

In a forest of hard cedar

We have both built our towers

We have listened to deceivers

 

But we do not desire war

Despite all you might have heard

When you knock upon our door

We will hear your honest word

And we will travel to your shore

 

As for the matter of Ukraine

We believe in basic rights

Let us make it very plain

We do not believe in might

We will not embrace the pain

 

We believe in sharing views

We believe in compromise

Let us walk in common shoes

Let us form more common ties

If we fail both sides will lose

 

For the world and for ourselves

We must end this bitter hate

Put our differences on the shelf

Let us forge a better fate

Let’s regard each other well

The Blood

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR

 

The Blood

 

You called yourself a champion

To the cause of global peace

But the only thing you have accomplished

Is to embolden the beast *

 

You control the air defenses

That block the bombs of war

You may be good at walls and fences

But it’s not working any more

 

Look down upon your bloody hands

The bloody hands of war

While you make your play for foreign lands

You’re creating World War Four *

 

You’ve set the stage for Vladimir

To build his bloody empire

Our former friends are filled with fear

For a world you’ve set on fire

 

How dare you claim diplomacy

When you’ve set the stage for war

But what you get is what you’ll see

You’re bloody to the core

 

* The beast of war.

* The Cold War was WW III.

 

The Opposite of Truth

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP

 

The Opposite of Truth

 

It is one thing to deceive

To deny and obscure the truth

It is another to proclaim the opposite

To describe the elderly as youth

To state the hero of the story

Of Lincoln’s assassination

Was really John Wilkes Booth

 

The confederacy fought for freedom

The union fought for slaves

Those who stood were cowards

And those who ran were brave

Global warming is a fallacy

It is really the Big Freeze

Caused by wind and solar

We can solve it with ease

 

Zelensky is a tyrant

Who wanted this brutal war

Vladimir Putin is a hero

Who pays tribute to the poor

White people are oppressed

Black people live in ease

There’s no such thing as covid

Or any other strange disease

 

Triumvirate of Fear

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

 

Triumvirate of Fear

 

Russia invaded a peaceful nation

Without the slightest cause

They didn’t bother with invocation

Of international laws

 

Putin tipped the old world order

With an act of aggressive war

A violation of sovereign borders

The monster at the door

 

We answered Ukraine’s desperate call

For help in time of need

Now we’ll witness Ukraine’s fall

As Putin take the lead

 

We cannot be the least surprised

We saw this horror coming

We warned the people far and wide

We witnessed the great dumbing

 

Putin, Trump and Elon Musk

A triumvirate of fear

The blood will flow from dawn to dusk

Their intentions are quite clear

 

Navalny Lives

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RUSSIA

 

Navalny Lives

 

Killed in an arctic prison cell

A thousand miles from home

The spirit of Navalny lives

He does not walk alone

 

His name strikes fear in Moscow

They shudder at the thought

His ghost forever haunts them

Forgotten he is not

 

The people still remember

The man who dared defy him *

That cold day in September

Proudly they stood by him **

 

He lives within their hearts

As you fight your dirty war

He cried out from the start

And the people heard his roar

 

The day you killed Navalny

You let his spirit rise

To inspire the resistance

To expose your dirty lies

 

* Putin

** Navalny

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

 

Britain Takes the Lead

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

Britain Takes the Lead

 

As the US takes a neutral lane

Great Britain takes the lead

In a new alliance with Ukraine

An agreement signed with speed

 

The world’s preparing for the day

When America is in retreat

Ukraine must find another way

Or face a certain defeat

 

A one-hundred-year alliance

A promise for the ages

A higher level of reliance

As the war in Ukraine rages

 

While the future is uncertain

Across the hemispheres

Russia rebuilds its iron curtain

Triggering our darkest fears

 

Will Ukraine still be a nation

When the US is withdrawn?

Or will a new allied creation

Awaken a new dawn?

 

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!

 

Tulsi Gabbard

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

Tulsi (Fox in the Henhouse)

 

The fox is guarding the henhouse

The hens are running scared

The cat has cornered the mouse

Betray her if you dare

 

She is on Putin’s payroll

We’ve long known it is so

She delivers Russian talking points

On all the rightwing shows

 

Now Tulsi holds the keys

To all our secrets and our plans

Our weapons and our strategies

And where we’ll make a stand

 

If that doesn’t give you pause

You’ve lost all sense of reason

What she will do despite our laws

Will tempt a charge of treason

 

I do hope that I am wrong

But I fear that I am right

She will sing a Russian song

And she will fight the Russian fight

 

(Tulsi Gabbard announced as

Trumps choice for Director of

National Intelligence.)

 

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.)

 

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

 

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.)

BRICS

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

BRICS

 

Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa

You are judged by the company you keep

Brazil, South Africa, India

I believe you are in too deep

 

Do you really want to be

In the company of brute dictators?

Far better to make friends

With republicans and liberators

 

You’ve been tempted by oppressors

In all their varied forms

Blatant cheats and vote depressors

We hope you have reformed

 

But if you wish to make alliance

With the planet’s worst offenders

We’ll reconsider our reliance

On your human rights defenders

 

A new world is taking shape

We are taking it in stride

Consider every step you take

Do not take the other side

 

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