Remember the Fallen

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: VIOLENCE

 

Remember the Fallen

 

We lament the killing of Charlie Kirk *

As we mourn Melissa Hortman **

Both were killed for political work

By a crazed individual assassin

 

One is no greater than the other

No lesser by any means

One was a sister, the other a brother

And both were human beings

 

Both were martyred to their cause

Remember them for who they were

Despite whatever human flaws

This fate they did not deserve

 

There is far too much hatred and rage

In this world of growing extremes

We are entering a desperate violent age

We should grasp just what that means

 

High powered weapons in dangerous hands

Are a problem we all must address

Take a vow to do whatever you can

To make these dangers less

 

And lower the volume of discontent

Accept that we can disagree

Interpret kindly what others meant

Try not to plant the seed

 

*   assassinated in Utah

** assassinated in Minnesota

 

Assassin's Bullet

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: VIOLENCE IN AMERICA

 

Assassin’s Bullet

 

We disagree on so many things

From defending Ukraine to building a wall

From whether angels really do have wings

To whom will be the next to fall

But we can agree on this one thing:

An assassin’s bullet is against us all

 

The powerful weapon that took him down *

Should never be allowed

Not on a safe and sacred ground

Nor a place with an assembled crowd

We wonder what the assassin found

That shamed or made him proud

That made his mind unsound

 

Whatever else can be said

That will move our hearts or stir our rage

A man who lived now is dead

He has left the living stage

He leaves behind the ones he loved

To suffer through this violent age

The soaring hawk, the lonesome dove

No more will he engage

 

* Charlie Kirk in Utah

 

The Cycle

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: MASS SHOOTINGS

 

The Cycle

 

Killing children in Minneapolis

The vicious cycle repeats

The cycle of the irrational

The cycle is never complete

 

Killing children in Gaza

The cycle of killing goes on

The deliberate killing of journalists

The infinite cycle of wrong

 

The cycle of endless violence

We hear the tired voices

Calls for prayer, moments of silence

We’re left without any choices

 

We pray to the second amendment

To protect us from all harm

With guns we live in contentment

While we fail to raise alarm

 

The cycle goes on forever

As we live in a world of hate

If the right to arms is revered

The cycle is our fate

 

Angry White Men

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: VIOLENCE

 

Angry White Men

 

Angry white men rule the world

It’s something we all know

Like boys will follow pretty girls

They let their anger show

 

An angry white man, another killing

A sense of self-aggrandizement

Mass murder considered thrilling

The cult of disenfranchisement

 

I wonder what the world would be

Without these crazy white men

Who think: this world belongs to me

Their anger is their only friend

 

They live inside a world of rage

They can never understand

They aren’t the center of the stage

Or the leader of the band

 

They live their lives in silence

Until the bubble bursts

An explosion of crude violence

The angry white man curse

 

All because they don’t belong

They’ve learned to hate themselves

Everyone they know is wrong

So they send them all to hell

 

(re: The Palm Springs bombing.)

 

The Core of Violence

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: VIOLENCE

 

The Core of Violence

 

The core of violence is hatred

Hatred of self and others

It is not inherited but bred

A resentment of our brothers

 

How do we learn to hate?

It rises from deep inside

We are taught an intolerant state

From which we cannot hide

 

We learn to hate ourselves

When we’re taught to hate the other

We would rather go to hell

Than have love for one another

 

From this most violence springs

That hatred of the self

It spreads on hatred’s wings

It rings the vengeance bell

 

If we wish to curb the violence

We must learn to love ourselves

We can’t sit still in silence

While we’re captured in its spell