Closed (Hormuz Strait)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IRAN WAR

 

Closed

 

The Lincoln is abandoned *

The war still rages on

We’re down to muskets and cannons

Our fearlessness is gone

It’s a strange and deadly game

Where every turn seems wrong

The new military is dopin’

They are singing a new song

But the Strait is not open

And the war is getting long

 

We’re loud and we’re raging

We’re heading round the bend

Our ships and missiles aging

In a war that will not end

Our leaders are half mad

By now the whole world knows

It’s tragic and it’s sad

But that’s just how it goes

Everything is turning bad

And the Strait is still closed

 

It’s closed for the weekend

It’s closed another day

How long it’s closed depends

On what our leaders say

There is no way around

It might be closed til May

As our sense of outrage grows

And our hair is turning gray

But the Strait remains closed

And closed it will stay

 

* USS Lincoln

 

Depleted

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IRAN WAR

 

Depleted

 

All our weapons are depleted

It couldn’t get much worse

Before this “mission” is completed

We’ll be riding in a hearse

 

They’re closing off the straits

They’re choking off supplies

We are awakening too late

To a waterfall of lies

 

We are sadly unprepared

For the wars that could unfold

Trapped in the dragon’s lair

All our options growing cold

 

Soon we’ll face the prospect

Of surrendering the cause

Of losing all respect

Of admitting all our flaws

 

Our leaders are incompetent

They are flailing in the night

Our interceptors have been spent

And the end is not in sight

 

This gross miscalculation

Is a betrayal of Ukraine

Instead of aiding that brave nation

Out munitions are constrained

 

Expanding War

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IRAN WAR

 

Expanding War

 

The Israeli American war on Iran

Expands throughout the region

Strikes in Jordan and Lebanon

The world has lost all reason

 

The Houthis based in Yemen

The latest strikes within Iraq

The Emirates are a given

The Saudis have taken stock

 

The war expands in leaps and bounds

Every day another volley

Another missile shakes the ground

Another injured child is calling

 

The Russians feed Iran

North Korea feeds the Russians

The Chinese simply wait for dawn

Who will supply the guns?

 

Another war that has no end

That pulls all parties in

All the wounds that will not mend

As another war begins

 

This is an endless cycle

As if it has been decreed

Like a fool on a motorcycle

That fool is bound to bleed

 

Reviled (Blind Revenge)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IRAN WAR

 

Reviled

 

The war in Iran is reviled

By all sides left and right

A war of spite and guile

A fight not worth the fight

 

We have aided the oppressors

And rallied the world against

We’ve grown weaker in every sector

We are weaker in our defense

 

Now we’re paying more for oil

And we’re paying more for food

We’re engaged on foreign soil

And our strategy seems crude

 

It’s a war that can’t be won

It’s a war for Netanyahu

It’s a war of shock and stun

Where we’re wrong in all we do

 

We are partners in a war crime

Against all of Palestine

It is so far beyond the time

To let this criminal war unwind

 

We remember October 7

It’s enough to make us cringe

But just like September 11

There is a limit to blind revenge  

Casualties of War

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP

 

Casualties of War

 

You gave us a promise on election day

No more stupid wars

America wanted another way

They chose to say: no more

 

So now we find ourselves at war

For Netanyahu and Israel’s sake

So we ask ourselves once more

How many must die for your mistake?

 

You don’t know how to say you’re wrong

You have played the warlord’s fool

Your sense of power far too strong

You forgot the golden rule

 

Don’t gamble more than you can lose

The very faith of MAGA nation

Now you cannot face the news

A sense of brazen indignation

 

This is the war you wanted

Now everything’s at stake

You pretend that you’re undaunted

How many will die for your mistake?

 

 

Reluctant Ally (NATO)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: NATO

 

Reluctant Ally 

 

The alliance is no stronger

Than the weakest of her links

When common purpose is no longer

The alliance slowly sinks

 

We are a grudging ally

A partner from afar

The rules of conduct don’t apply

When this is where we are

 

He rails against all members

Who do not shower him with praise

Every slight he will remember

His fickle mood becomes a craze

 

He pleads for their assistance

In a losing cause of war

When faced with strong resistance

We can hear his hollow roar

 

It comes down to the Strait

He can’t believe it isn’t ours

The alliances must wait

As we recalculate the powers

 

If the US does not lead

The vacuum will be filled

Europe’s working at light speed

With renewed strength of will

 

 

Foreign Policy Blunder

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IRAN WAR

 

Foreign Policy Blunder

 

We were going to rule the world with thunder

The awesome might of our war machine

What we got instead was a massive blunder

One of the worst we’ve ever seen

 

Whose was the brain behind this mess?

Did they not foresee the Hormuz Strait?

The MAGA team has failed the test

They have not made America great

 

They thought it was a piece of cake

A quick and easy declaration

All our enemies would awake

To an age of American domination

 

Benjamin Netanyahu is not pleased

He led our leader by the nose

He’ll tell his people we appeased

But the sense of skepticism grows

 

Our president has made a colossal error

His party will go down in flames

He has unleashed a world of terror

He should hide his head in shame

 

 

Sealing the Deal

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IRAN WAR

 

Sealing the Deal

 

With Iran we’re signing a deal

To signal an end to the war

We will wait to see if it’s real

Is it done or will there be more?

 

They will open the Strait of Hormuz

We will end the naval blockade

Once signed will it be through?

Will Israeli hold finally fade?

 

And what will the small print say?

Will Iran give up its ambitions?

Will they forfeit control of the Strait?

Who then will make the decisions?

Of course we had a deal before

When Obama headed the team

Iran had abandoned its course

But Trump didn’t like how it seemed

 

So he ripped it apart at the seams

And called it a terrible deal

It was one of his favorite themes

It fostered the MAGA appeal

 

Now we’ll work toward the same end

That Obama achieved without war

On Iran the deal will depend

The Israelis will always want more

 

 

Barrel of a Gun

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IRAN WAR

 

Barrel of a Gun

 

If you want a peace that doesn’t last

That leaves both parties stunned

Ignore the lessons of the past

Point the barrel of a gun

 

Sign the Abraham Accords

That’s the best deal you will get

Sign it now before we’re bored

You’ll forever be in our debt

 

We have the power to destroy

Though neither side has really won

We stand ready to deploy

You’re at the barrel of a gun

 

If lasting peace is what you want

Do not come to the table

This is just a propaganda stunt

To show the world we’re able

 

We don’t care what the future holds

A quick deal and then we’re done

Sign it before our patience folds

You’re at the barrel of a gun

 

The Shots

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP

 

The Shots

 

I call the shots!

You think that you do

Netanyahu does not!

We know that’s not true

 

You think you’re the man

No one else pulls the strings

You’re the one in command

You can do anything

 

Netanyahu just smiles

And says you’re the best

And still all the while

He couldn’t care less

 

He will do as he pleases

And that’s war to the end

Until our aid ceases

He will call you his friend

 

He calls the shots

Like Cheney for Bush

This war will be fought

Until his last push

 

He’s played you the fool

He’ll play you again

It’s his golden rule

It’s mice against men

 

Netanyahu's War

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IRAN WAR

 

Netanyahu’s War

 

Netanyahu’s doing all he can

To defeat the cause of peace

That is the constant Israeli plan

He wants them all deceased

 

Trump has tired of the war

He wants to open up the Strait

He can’t remember what it’s for

There’s too much on his plate

 

But Bebe’s war will never end

As long as he’s in power

He will not break, he will not bend

Not a minute, not an hour

 

Bombs will fall on Lebanon

As long as he is able

Until the last of them is gone

Peace is off the table

 

He will sabotage negotiations

Like a cog in the machine

A total breakdown of relations

There’s war in every scene

 

Get rid of him before too long

And there’s no way back again

The warmongers are much too strong

Their wars will never end

 

 

Profiteers of War

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR

 

Profiteers of War

 

They’re taking money from the Arab states

They’re taking money from the poor

They’ll take it now before it’s too late

They’re the profiteers of war

 

We’re paying more for milk and bread

We’re getting less and paying more

While the working world is feeling dread

They are profiteering war

 

His sons are gathering stacks of gold

His son-in-law takes in more

The nation’s parks are being sold

To the profiteers of war

 

They’ve got business with the Emirates

All the oil barons of lore

They are killers and degenerates

They’re the profiteers of war

 

We will never get it back again

All this waste of our resource

If you trust in God this is a sin

The profiteers of war

 

If you’d like to feel the hate

Get on board and stay the course

A dismal conscience is your fate

You’re a profiteer of war

 

Senator Collins Stands for War

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

 

Maine for War

 

The honorable Senator of Maine *

Raises her hand for war

The Senator has made it plain

Her cowardice runs to the core

 

She’s made an art of equivocation

On every issue under the sun

In the end she knows her station

Her vote belongs to the one

 

It’s never about her conscience

It’s rarely about her pride

It rarely makes any sense

She is always on their side

 

This time she has gone too far

In a vote for the Iran war

She is Maine’s declining star

They won’t stand for her anymore

 

She would send your kids to die

So far away and all alone

She could never tell them why

The voters should send her home

 

* Susan Collins

 

The Opposition Rises

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RESISTANCE

 

Opposition Rises

 

The opposition rises

Like the Phoenix from the ashes

The whole world is in crisis

As the global system crashes

 

We are waiting for a change

Not a surface decoration

For the people are estranged

From this war seeking nation

 

Our money seems to shrink

Every time we drive our cars

How long before we sink?

Just how far is too far?

 

They take away our friends

They’ll shoot us if we resist

On their mercy we depend

We are governed by the fist

 

Now they’ve taken it abroad

This grand brutality of force

Netanyahu playing God

Now we’re fighting Israel’s wars

 

Turn around and make it stop

This war has got to end

We are not the global cop

Let the wounds begin to mend