Consolidation of Power

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

Consolidation of Power

 

The autocrat’s quest for power

Requires consent of the masses

Not just the elite in their ivory towers

But the middle and lower classes

 

His push to take the hemisphere

A far cry from America first

Has the world trembling with fear

It has made our security worse

 

We all know he wants to be king

The crown of a royal empire

He would do almost anything

He would set the sky on fire

 

But he cannot achieve it alone

The people must line up behind him

While his ambitions have only grown

The opposition will confine him

 

This remains a true democracy

As long as the people hold

There will be no gilded autocracy

For the people will not be sold

 

 

Land of the Free

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

Land of the Free

 

What land is this I wonder

The purple mountains majesty

The land of grain and thunder

The land of grace and sympathy

The land that pulls you under

 

This is the land of liberty

The land where all are free

The land that wants no misery

The land that lets you be

The land that places family

Among the sacred trees

 

A darkness spread across the land

The shadow of a beast

Some rose up to make a stand

Some cried out for peace

Many hid and many ran

So many more deceased

 

What happened in this land of light

This land of liberty?

The place of law and human rights

The land that sings of thee

A shadow brought an endless night

A curse on all you see

We finally gave up the fight

We are no longer free

 

 

The Fall of NATO

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

The Fall of NATO

 

NATO has stood for over 75 years

United in purpose and ideals

It has relieved international fears

The dome of protection is real

 

All members honor the republican way

A declaration of human rights

There are limits on how far a nation can stray

In the dimming of Liberty’s light

 

Through all the changes and all the threats

NATO has always stood strong

Every challenge has always been met

Even times when we have been wrong

 

An attack on one is an attack on all

That is the core agreement

Without that core the treaty would fall

All members would suffer bereavement

 

When the US considers the use of force

Against a member nation

All nations must face a change of course

To reject our domination

 

 

Iranian Freedom

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

Iranian Freedom

 

Iran’s desire for freedom

Is deeper than the deep blue sea

A culture of ancient wisdom

Iranians must be free

 

But do not ask for American aid

For it would come with a heavy hand

Be aware you would be played

By the greatest con in all the land

 

We applaud your courageous protest

With the people we must stand

With the victims of mass arrests

We share all of your demands

 

But do not ask the US for favors

We would take more than we give

We would give your gold to slavers

We would not let your freedom live

 

If you want to free your nation

From the hands of your oppressors

Do not trust for your salvation

The would-be king and his jesters

 

 

Trump's War of Choice

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: VENEZUELA

 

Trump’s War

 

The president said his piece

He did not mention democracy

On this war it’s plain to see

Maduro is not the beast

 

Trump is the aggressor

He has made it very clear

He’s collecting his investors

As the dominoes fall near

 

As the Epstein files uncoil

This is a war of choice

A war of politics and oil

In which the people have no voice

 

There will be a price to pay

In both blood and reputation

By the hand that we have played

We’ve become a lawless nation

 

This war will haunt us through the years

It will feed our enemies fuel

We have found our own King Lear

Who proved more foolish than his fool

 

When it all is written down

It is a nightmare without end

To this catastrophe we’re bound

Will this wound ever mend?

 

Bombs from America

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: VENEZUELA

 

Bombs from America

 

When the polls turn south in the USA

Bombs will fall on foreign lands

Bush the elder bombed Iraq

Bush the younger Afghanistan

Clinton bombed poor Kosovo

Barack Obama sent his drones

Donald Trump was a bit slow

Trying it out in Iran and Syria

Letting it go in Nigeria

Now deciding Maduro must go

It’s all for oil and show

 

When bombs lit up the Caracas sky

We didn’t need to wonder why

Trump has lost his hold on power

His loyal followers have soured

That’s why he’s turned to war

A settling of old forgotten scores

 

America is no longer first

It isn’t second, third or fourth

In Venezuela it’s much worse

For Trump has set his course

He’s a war president now

Sit back and watch the Dow

Many will die before it’s through

That much we know is true

 

Shockwaves over Caracas

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR

 

Shockwaves over Caracas

 

Venezuela is in turmoil

Maduro has been captured

America claims her oil

On this winter day the third

 

Bright flames light up the sky

Explosions fill the air

The world must wonder why

This president has dared

 

He thinks they will surrender

Without offering up a fight

But this day they’ll remember

For the dimming of the light

 

All the world must now tremble

In fear and trepidation

The world order is dissembled

By a rogue and brutish nation

 

Like Russia in Ukraine

Without cause or provocation

Our actions leave a stain

There can be no salvation

 

We’ve learned nothing from the past

A war for oil in Iraq

Unlawful gains will never last

Once they absorb the shock

 

 

The New Millennium

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICA

 

The New Millennium

 

Twenty-five years into the new millennium

A year of extraordinary upheaval

Not a moment of boredom or tedium

The forces of virtue versus evil

 

Our democracy on the ropes

Bruised and battered by our president

Sliding down that slippery slope

A twisted vision warped and bent

 

His cause of mindless deportation

Pushes forward at a dizzy pace

The very core of the American nation

Devoid of justice and of grace

 

That we’ve endured this bold attack

Is a tribute to our strength and core

Somehow we’ll win our country back

Before he starts another war

 

All to please his quest for power

“The likes of which” we rarely see

The angry king in his lonely tower

A reign of terror, rage and greed

 

May we never see his like again

May his time in office soon expire

The things he’s done we can’t defend

A nation balanced on a wire

 

 

Any War Will Do

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

 

Any War

 

Because the president says it

Does not mean that it is true

The president wants a war

Almost any war will do

 

There is no trouble in Liberia

No Christian genocide in Nigeria

We have no business in Siberia

There is no reason for hysteria

 

He’s waging war on Venezuela

Cuba, Haiti and Brazil

He’s sending troops to Arcadia

He wants an enemy he can kill

 

If we are waging war on ISIS

Set the target within Sahel

There you will find a crisis

Turning villages into hell

 

But you don’t want a righteous war

When any third world war will do

You don’t care the reasons for

You don’t need a cause that’s true

 

You’ll keep on throwing bombs

To distract us from the truth

It’s an old familiar song

To be answered in the booth

 

 

The Ugly American

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP

 

The Ugly American

 

The ugly American has come to pass

We know his name and number

We hope his reign will not last

The dream is in a slumber

 

It seems we don’t like anyone

Who isn’t white and wealthy

Until this wave is finally done

Our nation is not healthy

 

We’ve fallen to the right extreme

The ones who do not care

They never liked the fabled dream

To them it seems unfair

 

That whites are not the ruling class

All others get in line

Money is the only pass

To drink the finest wine

 

We are the world’s worst nightmare

Until that distant day

When the light of reason fills the air

And this one goes away

 

 

Budapest Rising

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

Budapest Rising

 

An election is coming to Budapest

As we hear a rising sound

The people march in protest

As scandals shake the ground

 

Corruption and rank abuse

Has shaken Hungary to its core

Orban’s grip is coming loose

Change is knocking at the door

 

Pedophilia and prostitution

An abomination to the masses

When it invades your institutions

It rips apart your ruling classes

 

When you’re a strongman at the helm

You believe there are no rules

You have gone beyond the realm

Of the morbid and the cruel

 

How long as this gone on?

This unspeakable reign of horror

Was it happening all along?

Listen! Hear the people roar!

 

The great reckoning is coming down

Like a hammer to your head

They don’t want your kind around

Try democracy instead

 

 

The Imperial President

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

The Imperial President

 

If I say it’s the law it’s the law

If I say it’s a crime it’s a crime

The imperial president’s flaw

Puts the nation in a bind

 

We are complicit in our silence

As the president does his will

Acts of war and criminal violence

He has claimed the right to kill

 

In this country we don’t have a king

And we do not have a god

The blowback he will surely bring

The outrage and the fraud

 

He is itching for a fight

To distract us from the files

Whether wrong or whether right

Someone’s bound to get riled

 

As we take another step

Toward losing our republic

As the founding spirits wept

As the clock begins to tick

 

May we change the way we’re thinking

Before we lose it all

The ship of state is sinking

In the days before the fall

 

 

Contingencies

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Contingencies

 

What will Zelensky do

When Trump betrays Ukraine?

What will the continent do

When Russia makes it plain

That they will not stop the war

As long as Putin reigns

As long as there is more

To load on Russia’s train?

 

What will America do

When Europe does not fold?

What will China do

When Putin’s act grows old?

When the whole world realigns?

When democracies grow bold?

When India reads the signs?

 

What will the world do

When all are forced to choose?

Old ties or something new?

Who wins and who will lose?

When the people finally rise?

To claim their sovereign prize

And affirm their best allies? 

 

War Crimes

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR

 

War Crimes

 

War crimes are as old as war itself

 

The Revolutionary War

  The Sullivan Expedition

 

The Civil War

  Sherman’s March to the Sea

 

Civil wars are never civil

 

The Indian Wars

  The Trail of Tears

    Wounded Knee

      The Sand Creek Massacre

 

Nits make fleas

 

WWI

  Pillage and Plunder

 

To the victor goes the spoils

 

WWII

  The bombing of Dresden

    Internment of the Japanese

      Nagasaki / Hiroshima

        The Nuremberg Trials

 

War is hell

 

Korean War

  No Gun Ri Massacre

 

Vietnam

  My Lai Massacre

    Carpet bombing

      Free fire zones

 

Asians don’t value life as we do

 

The Gulf War

  Radioactive munitions

    Gulf War Syndrome

 

Iraq War / War on Terror

  Abu Ghraib

 

The Narco Terror War

  Extrajudicial execution

    No survivors

 

Where there is war

There are war crimes

War itself is a crime against humanity