Arab Israelis

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL

 

Arab Israelis

 

The Arab Israelis hold the key

To the future of the Israeli state

Equal status for all citizenry

Reject Hamas to ensure its fate

 

What Hamas was it ceased to be

With the attack that fateful day

To move on the Arab parties must lead

We can see no other way

 

An Israeli Arab partnership

To form a peaceful Jewish state

That could rebuild the Gaza Strip

How long must the world wait?

 

The dream of independent nations

Has drifted far from possible

It’s hard to live in segregation

Resolution seems improbable

 

We must reconsider everything

As reasoned people often do

When peace is balanced on a string

It may be time for something new

 

It begins with coexistence

With Israeli Arab representation

An end to stubborn Likud resistance

A new and safer Israeli nation

 

Peaceful Protest (Europe)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: PROTEST

 

Peaceful Protest

 

Peaceful protest is at the heart

Of every democratic government

It was declared from the start

To be certain and self-evident

 

Along with freedom of speech

And freedom of the press

A right no government should breach

As a most fundamental test

 

From Portugal to Spain

To Belgium, Denmark, Ukraine

The people own the streets

Our founders made it plain

 

So when the people march

To exercise their rights

To express what’s in their hearts

Do not challenge them to fight

 

There may be troublemakers

Just shuffle them aside

There are always instigators

They go along for the ride

 

Protect the right to protest

As a fundamental creed

Let the dictators oppress

Do not follow where they lead

 

Myanmar Junta

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

Myanmar Junta

 

Sham elections in Myanmar

Seal its status as a rogue state

The oppression has gone too far

Their civil war is in stalemate

 

With Chinese and Russian aid

The junta has barely survived

The resistance will not fade

As long as free will is alive

 

One hundred thousand dead

Five million are displaced

The streets have turned red

This junta is disgraced

 

The free world must take sides

Though America is absent

This killing we can’t abide

Too many lives are spent

 

Crimes against the human race

Are a challenge to us all

This suffering has no place

The state oppressors must fall

 

I do not argue for war

It is balanced trade I advocate

The despotic must pay more

Than the democratic states

 

Israeli Democracy

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL

  

Israeli Democracy

 

When the Prime Minister rails

Against twenty percent of the population

Israeli democracy fails

So goes the Israeli nation

 

If working with the Arab minority

Is a cause for calling treason

It’s the tyranny of the majority

In defiance of all reason

 

The Israeli people have spoken

In a clear decisive voice

The parliamentary system is broken

If it denies the people’s choice

 

It is time for Netanyahu

To ride off into the sunset

What more damage can he do?

What greater moral debt?

 

He has led the cause of vengeance

In the name of law and order

All good will has been spent

He did not secure the border

 

If there is any chance for peace

There must be a place for all

If the people’s will governs least

Then the government must fall

Viva Lula! Viva Brazil!

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LATIN AMERICA

 

Viva Lula! Viva Brazil!

 

In a comeback for the ages

Lula da Silva regains Brazil

He won it progressive stages

Of Bolsonaro they had their fill

 

Flavio could not handle the loss

His protests smell of sour grapes

Brazilians would not pay the cost

Of handing him the ship of state

 

The people rose to Lula’s cause

They know his heart is true

He’s not to blame for global loss

There was little he could do

 

Except to stand his ground

For the workers and the poor

His policies were always sound

He is centered to the core

 

Brazil will find her feet again

With Lula at the helm

Greater than it’s ever been

The leader of his realm

 

We wish we could have been there

When Lula claimed his prize

An election free and fair

The look in Bolsonaro’s eyes

 

Viva Lula! Viva Brazil!

 

The Fight for Democracy

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

The Fight

 

The fight does not end November 3^rd

In fact it only begins

If you haven’t heard, spread the word

The losing side may win

 

When a man’s in love with power

He will not let it go

He will barricade his tower

And watch it all unfold

 

He will declare election fraud

Just like he has before

He’ll proclaim the word of God

And call his troops to war

 

What happens next we do not know

Will they take it to the streets?

Will we absorb another blow?

Will we yield to defeat?

 

Our republic is in jeopardy

If we do not put them down

They would make us out the enemy

And plant us in the ground

 

Viva Lula and Brazil!

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: BRAZIL

 

Viva Lula and Brazil!

 

Lula da Silva does it again

Brazil is the better for it

Social democracy claims the win

Avoiding the rightwing pit

 

They flirted with autocracy

They were lucky to overcome

They held on to democracy

When Lula da Silva won

 

Now a brighter future calls

And the left must answer square

Tear down the oppressor’s walls

By treating all people fair

 

They wanted exploitation

Of the forests and the land

Now they’re a better nation

Since Lula made his stand

 

Brazil has made her choice

To uphold the people’s rights

To hear each and every voice

For that is worth the fight

 

Viva Lula and Brazil

The revolution has prevailed

This victory is real

Let’s hope they never fail

 

(Sadly, Lula unexpectedly lost the first 

round of elections. The future is in doubt.)

 

On Democracy

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DEMOCRACY

 

On Democracy

 

Without freedom of speech

You do not have a democracy

You may have an autocracy

Without the sea there is no beach

 

Without freedom of the press

The people are not informed

Your country should be warned

You are democratic less

 

Without the right to protest

You don’t have a republic

Your public forums are sick

It’s a pillar of the west

 

Without protection of due process

Your democracy has failed

Your opponents can be jailed

You do not pass the test

 

Without free and fair elections

You are only a pretender

A civil rights offender

Destined for correction

 

Without independent courts

Your freedom is not real

You are subject to the steal

Your efforts come up short

 

A democracy takes time

It must be zealously protected

Attacks must be rejected

It’s a stubborn state of mind

 

 

Enemies and Friends

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CHINA

 

Enemies and Friends

 

China is not our enemy

But she is not our friend

She reminds us what we want to be

On democracy depends

 

She has billions in cheap labor

Yet she’s progressing over time

She is not a gracious neighbor

There are mountains she must climb

 

She does not need our trade

But with it she has prospered

With the profits she has made

She’ll be receiving offers

 

We can help her moving forward

But not without conditions

We’ll both give our solemn word

We won’t alter our positions

 

Taiwan remains independent

Despite Chinese demands

Just like Canada and Greenland

A message must be sent

 

We can work it out together

Without bitterness or war

The future will be better

If we’d give a little more

 

 

The Fuehrer's Berlin

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP

 

The Fuehrer’s Berlin

 

The fuehrer had elaborate plans

For the remaking of Berlin

A reimagining so far beyond grand

To immortalize the Nazi win

 

He used imprisoned labor

French prisoners, jews and gypsies

To build tributes to their savior

Under the watch of Nazi police

 

A triumphant arch so huge

It made small the arch in Paris

Lost in the allies deluge

We’ve forgotten the fuehrer’s kiss

 

His ego could not be contained

He imagined himself on a throne

All other kings would be plain

He would rise above them alone

 

The fuehrer saw it all in a dream

Just as someone sees it today

He would be the king of all kings

And to him the people would pray

 

Russian Elections

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RUSSIA

 

Russian Elections

 

An election in Mother Russia

Is like a mandatory convention

Voters show up because they must

Despite their contrary intentions

 

Putin banned the opposition

Those opposed to the war in Ukraine

Their votes are cast in derision

Though they know the war’s insane

 

What point is there in voting

When there is no chance of change?

When your vote is just promoting

A leader who’s deranged?

 

The times cry out for protests

In every town and city square

Though they’ll be subject to arrest

Let them know the people care

 

They have buried many martyrs

They’ve imprisoned thousands more

You’re the stick Navalny stirred

You know Putin’s keeping score

 

There can be no election days

When the ballot is impaired

Let us call it mass resistance day

Let there be protests everywhere

 

 

The Moneyed Class

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

The Moneyed Class 

 

Elon Musk and the president

Have more than they can spend

Enough to fund an endless vent

Enough to make amends

 

Can money make you say

You’re contented when you’re not?

Can money make you go away?

Can it signify you’re bought?

 

They may offer up a treasure

And promise you a coat

Just for your viewing pleasure

If you offer them your vote

 

The price of gas is no concern

The price of food? Who cares?

We’ll let the redwood forest burn

We’ll let you have a share

 

You say don’t believe?

How much money would it take?

They will dazzle and deceive

Then they’ll toss you in the lake

 

You might as well give in

They are the moneyed class

They’re the ones who always win

Are they lying? Don’t ask

 

Berlin Beware!

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Berlin Beware!

 

The Neo-Nazis are gaining ground

In the land of the Fuhrer’s rise

Listen closely to that sound

As it rips the German sky

 

They may say it’s not white pride

But there’s no one else around

They are pushing it nation wide

To the Fatherland they are bound

 

Beware!

 

They have preached this line before

They want to make the nation great

They would welcome civil war

That would end in a Nazi state

 

Don’t let yourselves be fooled

They’re exactly what they seem

They’ll demand a white man rule

They’ll name it the German dream

 

Beware! 

 

They would pull you into the past

A time when Germany was disgraced

A people divided by race and class

Don’t be dragged into that place

 

 

Tears for Hong Kong

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Tears for Hong Kong

 

As much as ten years in jail

For the crime of peaceful protest

Hong Kong’s democracy has failed

Yet their spirits must be blessed

 

We remember Tiananmen Square

As if it happened yesterday

A display of courage rare

That spirit lives on to this day

 

The people rallied to their cause

They voiced their disapproval

Repeal all oppressive laws

Some called for their removal

 

The Party came to their decision

Without principled assistance

To prevent a deep division

They will punish all resistance

 

Yet the resistance will endure

Despite all oppressive measures

Of that much we can be sure

For their freedom is their treasure

 

A hundred years and more

We’ll remember Tiananmen Square

What they were fighting for

Is something we all share