No Words

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

No Words

 

Masha has no father, no family

She has no words for Vladimir Putin

She is from Kiev

To be from Kiev is to know sorrow

The sorrow of losing loved ones

The sorrow of losing one’s home

The sorrow of losing a life

She has no words for Vladimir Putin

She has only hatred

 

The war drags on like a stubborn storm

Like an illness that won’t go away

An aching throbbing persistent pain

A disease of the heart and soul

Like a never-ending rain

 

We have no words for Vladimir Putin

He has no heart for us

He has no care for human suffering

He has only his ambition

He feels nothing for anyone but his self

 

If the world is to find a way forward

We must move forward without him

He is a growth that must be removed

He is the heart of all our sorrow

We have no more words for him

Only hate

Only pity

Only sorrow

Drones Over Moscow

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

Drones over Moscow

 

What goes up must come down

What moves forward will move back

What you reap will come round

The train called Payback is on track

 

There are drones over Moscow

Armed with deadly force

More than reason would allow

Ukraine will stay on course

 

Vladimir is running scared

How could such a thing occur?

It isn’t right! It isn’t fair!

Let’s go back to how things were

 

But things will not go back

Things are moving straight ahead

Ukraine will launch its next attack

Russia’s forces will be bled

 

Call off your dogs and go home

Bring your war to an end

A losing Russia stands alone

Without an ally or a friend

 

Find the Light

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: PEACE

 

Find the Light

 

In a world of constant trials

Where tragedy tempts the heart of darkness

Where catastrophes strike with little notice

Where the innocent are unprotected

Where women and children die on

Battlefields and paths of destruction

Where greed has become a virtue

Where homelessness awaits misfortune

Where compassion is a weakness

Where vengeance is admired

Along with bitterness and loathing

Take time to raise your eyes

To see beyond the smoke and dust

To see the love beneath the hatred

To sense the weakness of the rage

To feel the sadness in the greed

To feel empathy for those in need

In a world of constant trials

When little seems quite right

Find the light

Human Tragedies

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

Human Tragedies

 

The wasteland from Texas to Missouri

mirrors the destruction from Gaza to Ukraine.

 

One is born of a human failure to learn and

understand how separate and distinct peoples

can live together in peace.

 

The other is born of a human failure to

understand and learn how our behavior

bears tragic consequences.

 

Until we learn how to accept our differences

without wanting to destroy each other we will

continue to foment wars of growing mass

destruction.

 

Until we learn that pumping toxic waste

into our atmosphere distorts and corrupts

the natural processes of climate and extreme

weather we will continue to suffer ever greater

climate catastrophes. 

 

Differences in beliefs, religions, cultures, and

philosophies are natural and appropriate; the desire

to annihilate others and take their lands based on

those differences is unnatural, morbid and devoid

of basic humanity. 

 

Tornadoes, hurricanes and tidal waves are

natural if unfortunate; monster storms and

a chain of twisters five hundred miles long

are unnatural and a testament to human greed

and obstinacy.

 

If we are to choose humanity and nature over

greed and avarice, we must alter our behaviors

and beliefs to create a better world for all the

earth’s inhabitants.

Memorial

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Memorial

 

We remember the soldiers

who gave their lives

for a cause that’s never certain

 

Some wars are righteous and necessary

Other wars are fought for greed

Even the good wars cannot be good

on both sides of the line

 

We remember all the soldiers

for their bravery and honor though

some were neither brave nor honorable

 

The loss is as severe for all

the soldiers and civilians caught

in the crossfire of war

 

We remember them and honor them

for they could well be us

We too would want to be remembered

We too would want to be honored

 

So we give them a day and remember them

We give them a day and pray their

lives were not given in vain

 

For all lives are precious

All lives should be remembered

All should be honored

 

We remember the dead for the living

We remember the living for the dead

Extermination (Rafah)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

Extermination (Rafah)

 

And so it begins

The final assault

Extermination of the enemy

The bombardment of the last stronghold

The laying of waste

They were cornered here like vermin

Pushed and herded here like goats

Here it ends

 

Here amidst the rubble of a once great city

Here in this landscape of destruction

Where mothers once gathered to gossip

While their children played

Where men followed footsteps to work

Where kids walked to school

Impoverished but not poor

 

Who but god and Netanyahu knew

That this would be the end …

But it is not the end

It is only another beginning

In the endless cycle of revenge

 

Moral Dilemma

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

Moral Dilemma

 

I believe in my bones conscription is wrong

As an army of conscripts is weak

I believe that the cause of Ukraine is strong

But the prospect grows dimmer to bleak

 

It is a dilemma that cannot be unwound

They are fighting a brutal beast

Yet they stand on shaky moral ground

Which path is offensive the least?

 

There must be a way to defeat this foe

Without becoming what we detest

The price for aggressive war must grow

In unity from the east to the west

 

The affront of Russia must never prevail

This evil must be stopped in its tracks

The way of war must be derailed

An end to all imperialist attacks

 

Until then we live in compromise

Until then these wars will not end

Until this world becomes more wise

Our moral foundations must bend

 

The Crimes of Netanyahu

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

The Crimes of Netanyahu

 

The crimes against humanity

Continue without pause

Netanyahu flicks his thumb at us

In defiance of all laws

 

Another thousand dead

Another week of terror

Netanyahu shrugs his shoulders

As if it was random error

 

The war continues on

Until his anger is abated

How many more must die

Before his rage is satiated?

 

We must find another way

And we must find it yesterday

For what Hamas started

Future generations will pay

 

For now there is no answer

There is only blood and pain

The violence will continue

Like a cruel and endless chain

 

Contrasts (Light and Darkness)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Contrasts

 

How can we breathe the fresh clean air

When we know what is happening elsewhere?

In Haiti there is no order

In Nicaragua and Mexico

There is no border

 

How can we send our children to school

To teach and embrace the golden rule?

When schools in Kiev are underground

When there is no school in Gaza

In Yemen the schools left town

 

How can we enjoy our fresh cooked meals

When elsewhere there is starvation?

When hungry children go to sleep

There is no grain, there is no meat

When what you sow is what you reap

When rescue workers are killed or beat

 

How can we live in peace when

Around the world there is only war?

We fight for greed and vengeance

When men in power want only more

When more is never ever enough

When the wealthy consume the poor

 

How can we go on without care

With killing and hardship everywhere

How can we live our happy lives

When so many live in despair?

When we know we are no better than

When we know it is not fair?

 

End the Occupation

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

End the Occupation

 

On peace in the Middle East

Our democracy may depend

A ceasefire is not enough

The occupation must end

 

We remember how it started

But it no longer really matters

The Palestinians of Gaza

Have been brutalized and battered

 

We demand an end to violence

We demand an end to war

We cannot sustain our silence

We will endure it no more

 

They are forgotten people

Denied hope, denied a home

The wandering tribes of Palestine

Abandoned and alone

 

You have pushed beyond the limits

Of our capacity to defend

You’ve become what you abhor

This occupation must end

 

Boots on the Ground

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

Boots on the Ground

 

Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan

They did not ask us to lend a hand

We fought our wars on their land

We hoped they’d understand

 

Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan

We put our boots on their ground

We asked them not to let us down

When we unleashed the hounds

 

Iraq is not Ukraine

The differences are plain

Like sunshine and forever rain

They do not want our soldiers

We do not want their grain

 

Ukraine is not Afghanistan

Though they share a common thread

The Russians once invaded them

An act they came to dread

An act the world condemned

 

Ukraine is not Vietnam

They do not want our troops

They don’t want our boots on loan

They only want their country

They want to defend their own

 

Blind Vengeance

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

Blind Vengeance

 

People of Israel

Do you know the crimes

committed in your name?

 

What began as self defense

surrendered that rationale

when Netanyahu decided civilians

were subject to extermination

 

People of Israel

Have you seen the destruction

delivered in your name?

 

Hospitals are not hiding enemies

Schools are not training sites

An ambulance is not a target

Children are not expendable

Palestinians are not Hamas

Mothers are not soldiers

 

People of Israel

Do you know the blood your

leaders are spilling in your name?

 

I am not a terrorist apologist

I lament the unconscionable act

that unleashed this chain of horror

but just retribution has turned

into blind and brutal vengeance

 

People of Israel

I believe in your humanity

Help us to help your nation

return to the path of peace

 

The War Zone

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR

The War Zone

 

Every week by small degrees

The zone of conflict grows

From Lebanon to Yemen

Each side lands another blow

 

The Red Sea passage is open

But it is subject to attack

The flow of oil is threatened

The Houthis will strike back

 

There is more than meets the eye

In the growing zone of war

The pieces are in motion

Across the world’s chessboard

 

We know all the players

The proxies and the powers

Each move pushes forward

Toward the final hours

 

This is not a game of intellect

To exercise our minds

If we fail to see the whole

We are playing the game blind