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

 

Tears of Palestine

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: JERUSALEM

Tears of Palestine

 

“I walk and count the bones of my beloveds

Along the Valley of Destruction.”

 

Wm. Blake, Jerusalem (1820)

 

The tears of Jerusalem became the tears of

Palestine that together formed a river  

that flowed into the sea.

 

Endless is the sorrow and the mourning of

the mothers and the anger of the fathers

and the vows of vengeance that the sons

and daughters carried through the ages

of antiquity.

 

The tears of Palestine became the tears of

Jerusalem that together formed a river

that flowed into the sea.

 

There is no peace on earth

Nor can there ever be

Until at last we find a cure

for this ancient blood disease

 

Dark before Dawn

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

Dark before Dawn

 

All the chips are stacked against you

Your back is up against the wall

There is no one you can turn to

There is no one you can call

It seems the fateful tide is turning

Like the rush before the fall

You have let your hopes be taken

In the morning you’ll be gone

It always seems the darkest before dawn

 

We will rise again tomorrow

We will find a way to bend

We will melt into the shadows

With a message we will send

They have only won the battle

It’s not over till the end

We will find a deeper courage

We will sing our mourning song

It always seems the darkest before dawn

 

We will fight with all our strength

We will refuse to give in

When it seems we’ve reached the end

We will begin again

For we are on the side of justice

For the righteous we will win

We must defeat an enemy

Whose cause is dark and wrong

It always seems the darkest before dawn

 

(for Ukraine)

Staring Down the Barrel (for Ukraine)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

Staring Down the Barrel

 

We knew what were in for

We were always on the run

We were heading for the exit

Underneath a setting sun

Like a woman on a tight rope

One wrong step and we’re done

We were staring down the barrel

of a gun

 

We were desperate and afraid

Like a child that has no one

We were carrying a load

That must have weighed a ton

We were running short on luck

No one lost and no one won

We were staring down the barrel

of a gun

 

When we awakened in the morning

We were naked and alone

All our friends and trusted allies

Had given up and gone home

We were all out of trying

We were down and we were done

We were staring down the barrel

of a gun

 

(for Ukraine)

Killing Journalists (in Gaza)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

Killing Journalists

 

He had to cover Gaza

How could he not?

Knowing he would risk it all

If ever he was caught

Trying hard to do his job

Telling truth to power

Who else if not the journalist?

Who rises in this hour?

A genocide unfolding

What more can be said?

To feed the daily knowing

How many more are dead?

 

The journalist is essential

To tell the story well

Netanyahu has turned Gaza

Into a Palestinian hell

If we want to set it right

Our reporters must be free

To do their work unhindered

Let the journalists be

 

No Christmas (on Christmas Day)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

No Christmas

 

In the little town of Bethlehem

Where a child was given birth

There is no prayer or celebration

There is no peace on earth

 

There will be no Christmas singing

No sounds of Christmas cheer

No bells of joy are ringing

Our comfort changed to fear

 

We may never be the same

At least that’s how it feels

It seems to me an awful shame

To lift the Christmas shield

 

For Christmas is for everyone

No matter their beliefs

A time to put down our guns

A time to breathe relief

 

The Love (on Christmas)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: PEACE

The Love

 

Peace across the valley

Christmas bells are ringing

Waves of Christmas revelry

Boys and girls are singing

 

Where is the love that once we knew?

So freely given this time of year?

Where is the love that seemed so true?

Where is the Christmas cheer?

 

As children we loved everyone

Over time we learned to hate

Every daughter and every son

Was welcomed as our mate

 

Where is the love that grew on trees?

It seems so very far away

Where is the hand we gave for free?

Lost somehow along the way

 

We need to find the love again

To give the world new birth

To find the kindness deep within

For peace on planet earth