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

 

Mourning in America

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Mourning in America

 

The majority* of Americans

Have made their feeling clear

The rest of us are mourning

For the nation we hold dear

 

We cannot deny the mandate

Unlike the opposing side

We’ve lost our democratic state

Now we’re forced to take a ride

 

Down the autocratic lane

Where brutes and tyrants live

So begins the tyrant’s reign

That history will not forgive

 

It is mourning in America

And all around the world

The once proud democracy

Into the void was hurled

 

We will not give up hope

We’ll rise to fight again

We’re facing a daunting slope

With a deep desire to win

 

* Plurality

The Unseen Hand (of Oppression)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

The Unseen Hand

 

The unseen hand of intimidation

Belongs to the brute of the Kremlin

His presence felt in most every nation

Like a force of voting gremlins

 

They promote stories with clever lies

The truth is altered and deformed

They provide their guilty alibies

They invade like a closing storm

 

From Austria to the Slavic states

From Wisconsin to the Hague

The unseen hand has found its place

Like the scourge of a Russian plague

 

Democracy is on the run

Most everywhere we turn

We cannot rest until it’s done

Let the flames of freedom burn

 

Do not give in, do not despair

The alarm has been sounded

We are rallying the free and fair

On the principles that were founded

 

In ancient Greece and modern Rome

The bricks of our foundation

Democracy has found a home

In the best of civilized nations

 

The Common Good

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Common Good

 

There is something deeply disturbing

About the state of our democracy

When so many of our citizens

Are tempted to autocracy

 

We will never have to vote again

That is exactly what he said

Our democracy has flown away

Say goodnight and go to bed

 

In the morning when we wake up

Our once great country tis of thee

Is no longer of and by the people

And the people are no longer free

 

We had a long and storied run

But the wealthy spoiled the pot

The filthy rich took all the power

And let the republic rot

 

We neglected it for far too long

We let the wealthy have their way

Now that they’ve bought all branches

We will no longer have a say

 

It is for the common good they say

And for the benefit of very few

It is far too late to make a change

There is nothing more we can do

 

Sympathy for the Nazis

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP

Sympathy for the Nazis

 

He wanted to be a dictator

The generals stood in his way

They knew he was a sympathizer

They still know it to this day

 

He told them plain and clear

He thought Hitler had it right

With an iron fist he ruled by fear

They were strong and bold and white

 

He’s not hiding his proclivities

Or they are hidden in plain sight

He doesn’t bother with civility

He loves a crooked fight

 

He has sympathy for the Nazis

And the man who led them all

He killed six million Jews with ease

Before the Axis took the fall

 

Do not give this man the power

To turn this nation on its head

He would march us to the final hour

Just to see his ambitions fed

 

Second Grade Politics

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

Second Grade Politics

 

Remember back in second grade

I know you are but what am I?

The habits that we made

I could never tell a lie!

As you lied through your teeth

I swear on the holy book

As I live and breathe

Don’t look, don’t look!

 

I know you are but what am I?

The only thing is winning

Look your accuser in the eye

Hypocrisy is grinning

Who stole my piece of pie?

We learn to cheat and steal

I know you are but what am I!

How did that make you feel?

Not good. Can we go back?

No but you can make amends

Get your life back on track

And that is how the story ends

I cannot tell a lie

I know you are but what am I?

 

Gender Gap

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Gender Gap

 

What is it about men?

Do we not believe our eyes?

We see clearly where we’ve been

All reason would belie

We should not go back again

When we know the reasons why

 

And yet here we stand

It is far too close to call

A woman against a man

The woman standing tall

The man without a plan

Except to build his wall

 

It is the Us against the Them

How else can we explain?

A flower against a stem

A mind without a brain

Our nation we’d condemn

To a horror filled refrain

 

Will we stumble into night

Or awaken in the day?

Will we finally make it right

Or watch it all wash away?

Will we keep it in our sight?

Hold on come what may

 

The Trump Method

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Trump Method

 

The Trump method is simple

He doesn’t tell a common lie

He doesn’t engage in fabrication

He lets the simple truth fly by

By death he means salvation

He gives the opposite of truth a try

 

Elon Musk is Donald’s minion

Though he was late to get on board

He never offers an opinion

That doesn’t blend with Trump’s discord

 

What he says about those others

He really means about his own

When he says the crowd is huge

He might be standing all alone

 

When he says he’ll save democracy

You should know he means to end it

What he loves is pure autocracy

The republic? He won’t defend it

 

It is all about the big lie

The bigger it is the better

He likes his ham on rye

Don’t say why, it might upset her

 

Tony Soprano

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Tony Soprano

 

Tony Soprano was a solid man

For a mob boss

So he smacked a few guys

They was asking for it

So he whacked a few guys

They deserved to be whacked

 

I get it

 

Tony Soprano was an engaging character

He didn’t take crap from nobody

He valued loyalty above all

He liked a rigged game

As long as Tony got his share

They all got along fine

But if somebody steps out of line

All bets are off

You might get smacked

You might get whacked

 

I get it

 

What I don’t get and never will

Is why so many of us

On the bottom of the mob ladder

The suckers and losers

The ones who get whacked

Why so many of us still want

Tony Soprano for president

 

The Panderer

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP

The Panderer

 

He’ll give you what you want

He will promise anything

If you promise him your vote

He will make the angels sing

 

No taxes on the wealthy

No taxes on the poor

No taxes on the middle class

Free meals at your door

 

He’ll bring peace to Ukraine

An independent Palestine

He’ll turn crazy into sane

He’ll turn water into wine

 

If you ask him how he’ll do it

He’ll wave his hands in the air

He will shoot an arrow through it

Then he’ll fix his eyes and stare

 

There is nothing I can’t do

When I’m the king of all that be

Everyone will know it’s true

When I part the great Red Sea

 

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

 

Project 2025 Emergency

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Project 2025 Emergency

 

Project 2025: A program for autocracy

Among its many evil schemes

The destruction of democracy

The corruption of our justice system

A dismantling of bureaucracy

 

Under Project 2025

Emergency management falls to the states

So when a hurricane slams Florida

The government response:  Suffer your fate!

 

When twisters rip through the Midwest states

And the victims are feeling alone

The government will shake its head

Good luck, you’re on your own!

 

When fires burn through western lands

And the people plead for aid

The government will turn its back

And your hopes will slowly fade

 

When the lights go out in Texas

And they don’t know what to do

Washington will have no ears

Sometimes you’re bound to lose

 

That’s the way it’s going to be

If the rightwing has its way

You may like it in the short term

But soon you'll rue the day

 

The Choice (Abortion)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Choice (Abortion)

 

He engineered the change

That struck down Roe V. Wade

But never mind he didn’t mean it

He’s all pro-choice today

 

He sang a different tune

Not so very long ago

He must have lived on the moon

Please say it isn’t so

 

The choice goes to the states

On that (he says) we all agreed

But hold on here and wait!

That no one wants or needs

 

Every woman should have a right

No matter where she lives

That’s like turning day to night

It’s not your right to give

 

You may say you’re not to blame

But we all know that it’s true

The court did it in your name

So the blame must fall on you

 

The Crypto King

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP DAZE

The Crypto King

 

The con of all cons

Like an Edsel with wings

Let’s hear it for the Don!

The crypto currency king

 

He sold us the golden shoes

Trading cards and magic rings

How can we ever lose?

He’s the crypto currency king

 

He’s lost more money than anyone

He’s run a thousand stings

He’ll pass it all to his elder son

The new crypto currency king

 

Crypto is the king of cons

It’s a currency for crooks

Let’s give it up to the Don

And open up his books

 

He’ll take your hard-earned cash

He’ll do a dance and sing

He’ll put the proceeds in his stash

He’s the crypto currency king

(Trump starts a new crypto currency.)

 

Trump World

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

Trump World

 

There’s no telling what he might say

The man deteriorates every day

 

In Trump world

Europe is our adversary

Russia is our friend

 

In Trump world

Mothers execute babies after birth

 

In Trump world

Schools turn little boys

Into little girls

 

In Trump world

Criminal migrants swarm the nation

From Colorado to Wisconsin

And no one is safe

 

In Trump world

Win or lose the streets will flow

With the blood of his revenge

 

In Trump world

He is not only God’s messenger

He is God’s holy warrior

God’s right hand of vengeance

 

In Trump world

We are all suspect

Lawyers, operatives, donors, agents

Voters and election officials

We will be sought, caught and prosecuted

To the fullest extent of the law

 

In Trump world

You and I are the enemy

And he vows to take us down

 

High IQ

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

High IQ

 

Like a musician who can’t hum a tune

Or a midnight show at noon

The brightest light in any room

Should know better than this:

Degrading Make-a-Wish

A photo op at Arlington

Dismissing the Medal of Honor

Insulting John McCain

The man cannot refrain

 

A man of high IQ

(if we take him at his word)

Shouldn’t stumble on the easy things

It almost seems absurd

Like a plane that has no wings

Like a listener who never heard

Or a singer who doesn’t sing

Or the winner who finished third

 

It seems he never had a clue

He had a lot of money

What else could he do?

He had to win the highest office

His kind can never lose

Except he did and will again

The false becomes the true

The greatest man who’s ever been

A man of high IQ

 

Hang Your Head (for RFK Jr.)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Hang Your Head

 

I remember Bobby well

He gave the people hope

What a story he would tell

About his son’s descending slope

 

Bobby stood against the war

In a far-off Asian land

His son stands with Putin

As if he ever gave a damn

 

When he takes the stage with Trump

His father rises from his grave

He’s the child who craves attention

We must implore him to behave

 

You stand against your father’s will

So hang your head in shame

To the mountain you are just a hill

You’ve disgraced the family name

 

We won’t remember Bobby

For the evil that you do

For we know that he opposes

All those who stand with you

(RFK Jr. endorses Trump)