Dual Uprisings

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL DEMOCRACY

Dual Uprisings

 

They’re marching in the streets of Moscow

To put an end to a ruthless dictator

They marched in the streets of Washington

To defend an unscrupulous traitor

 

We support the Russian dissidents

In their struggle for democracy

We despise the American insurgents

For their contemptible hypocrisy

 

We join with those who bravely oppose

The oppressive reign of Vladimir

We stand hand in hand in unity against

Those who impose their will through fear

 

They are bashing heads in Russia

While here we are in despair

They’re fighting for their democracy

We need to show we care

 

Embrace Professionalism

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  ON TYRANNY

Embrace Professionalism

 

Democracy survived

On the backs of civil servants in

Pennsylvania Georgia Arizona Michigan

Individuals refused to bow

To an unscrupulous president

Precinct captains and secretaries of state

Planted the staff and held their ground

In cities counties and modest towns

 

They upheld the law

In defiance of their party

They upheld their code

In deference to their honor

They carried a heavy load

 

When all else failed

And the rule of law slipped away

Professionalism held strong

And democracy won the day

 

Lawyers are bound to the law

Judges are bound to legal dictates

Doctors are bound to an ethical code

Administrators uphold standards

And teachers are bound to rules

Without which order disintegrates

And we fall prey to a fool’s dictates

 

When all else fails the test

Professionalism is the last line of defense

Against the insurrectionist mob

They honorably do their jobs 

* See On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder

One Party (On Tyranny)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ON TYRANNY

One Party

 

Democracy is not a team sport

Though we often treat it as if it were

To our side we give only praise

To the opposition we shout a curse

 

Politics is not a religion

It’s healthy to disagree

No one is always right

No one can always please

 

Whenever one man has all the answers

Though the questions have not been asked

You can be sure beyond all doubt

That man is wearing a deceptive mask

 

Beware anyone who proclaims the truth

The one and only way

For there is no single answer

To the problems we face today

 

Democracy demands multiple voices

An open forum for debate

If you have only a single party

Tyranny will be your fate

 

Symbols of Hate

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ON TYRANNY

 

Symbols of Hate

 

The face of the world has meaning

It should never be ignored

Signs and symbols of hatred

Precede the dragon that roared

 

Remember when the N word

Was in everyday use

Racists laid it out there

To test the limits of their abuse

 

They test our sensibilities

By observing how we react

To see how much we will accept

Their racist creed as a given fact

 

Tolerance is a license to abuse

The new swastika is the letter Q

If you would not be a supremacist

Do not walk in a supremacist’s shoes

 

If you would not tolerate a gangland mark

Do not accept the Proud Boy game

A swastika or the numeral XIII

A MAGA hat is just the same

 

Bigotry is bigotry

Racism is racism

Intolerance is intolerance

By any other name 

[NOTE: Inspired by Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny]

Respect the Word

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  GLOBAL DEMOCRACY

Respect the Word

 

Orwell served warning

Words and language matter

Use your words wisely

In contrast to the Mad Hatters

 

Freedom is not oppression

Love is not hate

Poverty is not a blessing

Tyranny is not fate

 

Patriotism does not belong to party

Free people do not obey

News is not fake

No matter what the man might say

 

There is only one real truth

There are no alternative facts

Combine your heart with your head

And on that basis react

 

When others spread falsehoods

With your silence you appease

When good words serve bad causes

They become a malignant disease

 

Every authoritarian movement

Begins with a false word

A catchy slogan or phrase

That appeals to the herd

 

Remember the Reign of Terror

Recall the Third Reich

They claimed a righteous cause

For which the people could fight

 

Every dictator in history

From Pol Pot to Chairman Mao

Relied on abuse of language

Machiavelli showed them how

 

Call it out

Loud and bold

Strip it bare

Stop it cold 

[Note:  This is one in a series of poems inspired by Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny.]

 

America Reborn

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

America Reborn

 

The miracle of democracy is

That our government is reborn

Every four years

 

Often there is continuity

A civilized transfer of power

A seamless flow of common ideas

Connecting past to future

 

Sometimes there is upheaval

As there is today

A severance of the present

From the past

A new beginning

A complete rebirth

 

Democracy for all its stumbles

For all its flaws

Affords us this opportunity

This miracle of renewal

 

We begin to heal our wounds

We begin to breathe again

We begin to see the light

We begin to believe again

 

We are America

We lost ourselves

As nations sometimes do

But we have returned

To embrace the dream

To secure the indelible truth

The Russian Resistance (Free Navalny)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL DEMOCRACY

The Russian Resistance

 

Now more than ever we know

We are all in this together

Now more than ever we see

How small this world can be

Endless waves of oppression

Can sweep across the sea

Infecting freedom everywhere

Poisoning the air we breathe

Stifling free expression

Distorting what we hear and read

Twisting fundamental truth

Attacking democracy

 

Now more than ever we know

What happens in Moscow

Does not stay in Moscow

When the people of Russia

Stand up in defiant resistance

Free people everywhere

Must stand with them

 

People of Moscow and Vladivostok

Saint Petersburg and Kiev

We join our voices to yours

We hear you and applaud

We stand with you

We suffer with your suffering

We admire your courage

And demand with you

Change

 

Free Alexei Navalny!

Free Russia!

Liberate the world!

 

Science (Survival of the Species)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Science

 

Science is not a conspiracy

Science is a methodology

Responsible for the advancement

And survival of the species

 

Without science we would be

Stuck in the stone ages

Struggling for existence

Reading signs and omens

In the mystic stars

And the dancing moon

Where to hunt and where to plant

When to move or make camp

 

Without science we would rely

On grandma’s recipes

And ancient cures

Releasing evil vapors

Through open wounds

To treat disorders and disease

 

There is a place for signs and omens

There is a place for natural remedies

But the survival of the species

Depends on scientific methods

Not superstition and mythology

 

Let the arts lean on magic

It is food that feeds the soul

It enables our spirits to fly

Our sweet imaginations to flow

But when a deadly virus takes hold

Allow science to lead the way

In a struggle for survival

Let science have its day

 

Vaccination Day

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Vaccination Day

 

Standing in line

Late in the day

Sun in decline

Patience

 

Most are old like me

Some are young

(health workers I’m told)

Young attending old

It’s all a mystery

 

We are ordered

Organized

The line moves

At a steady pace

Then stops

As if a cog is stuck

In the wheels

Then resumes

 

Cemetery across the street

Oldest in town

Someone yells don’t do it!

From a moving vehicle

A few abandon the wait

 

It occurs to me

We are the brave ones

We want to survive

We believe in science

We believe in civilization

We’re willing to pay the price

 

The wait ends

A series of questions

Shot delivered

Twenty one days before

A second shot

Ninety five percent protection

From the plague

 

Bravo!

Well done!

Science triumphs

The species survives

 

Stasis (Hard Times)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Stasis

 

The ability to sleep a hundred years

And awake with all intact

 

When hard and tragic times

Sweep over us like an ancient curse

Leaving mother and child in despair

Spreading gloom like an endless night

Turning brother against brother

Sister against mother

Father against son

Friend against friend

In relentless waves of woe

 

When the well runs dry

And all the money is spent

When there’s nothing but the blues

And you can’t pay the rent

When you go to sleep hungry

And there is no better news

How much longer must we endure

Before entropy ensues

 

We need to take a break

An extended pause in time

Freeze everything in place

No more hunger

No more debt

No more evictions

No more clouds of sorrow

A declaration of stasis

Like a reprieve from fate

Put all our problems on hold

Everything can wait

 

Like Rip Van Winkle

In that old fairy tale

Sleep for a hundred years and

Wake when all is well

 

The Cleansing

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Cleansing

 

The reactionaries won’t like it

They’ll scream like banshees on the run

(let them scream)

But it is time for the cleansing

The great and awful cleansing

 

Cleansing the army the navy

And the national guard

Cleansing the police and the sheriff

Cleansing the secret service

And the FBI

 

There is no place in law enforcement

The military or public service

For racists and white supremacists

For insurrectionists or bigots

 

Let the hate group militias stand alone

Never again should they be allowed

To mount an armed insurgency

Against an elected government

With assistance from the inside

 

Those who serve the nation

Must serve all the nation’s people

In all the nation’s diversity

 

Those who carry arms

In service to the nation

Must live and breathe

The nation’s creed: 

 

That all are created equal

That all are entitled to equal

Protection under the law

 

Those who wear the banner of order

Must honor the principles of democracy

And fundamental human rights

 

Those who wear the badge

Must be sworn to protect and serve

All the people and their elected leaders

 

Let the cleansing begin

 

New Day

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

New Day

 

More than a nation

America is an idea

More than a government

Democracy is the embodiment

Of principles and ideals

 

A raging mob representing all

That is antithesis to America

Broke down the barriers

Pushed through the doors

And came within a whisper

Of capturing or killing

Our elected leaders in congress

But they did not touch America

They did not wound democracy

They did not strike down

The American ideal

 

These indelible truths

Were beyond their reach

Beyond their grasp

Beyond their comprehension

 

They showed their colors

But America was not at risk

For it exists deep within

The heart and soul of Americans

In a place they cannot touch

 

 

Military Lockdown

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Military Lockdown

 

While much of the nation is under siege

At the mercy of a runaway virus

Staying in taking refuge staying away

The nation’s capital is in lockdown

Armed soldiers on every corner

Barricades and razor wire surrounding

The institutions of government

 

The least represented city in America

Transformed into a fortress from without

Or a prison from within

 

The question now goes out to every

Soldier every cop and every citizen:

Which side are you on?

 

Will you honor our democracy?

Will you stand by the law?

When it really matters is your

Patriotism made of straw?

 

There were many reasons to go along

Many reasons to turn away

Many reasons to pretend it’s okay

Now there are no more reasons

You cannot condone treason

Without being a traitor

 

Five persons have given their lives

Five families are in mourning

How many more before you understand

The depth of this depravity?

 

 

Color Blind

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GEORGE FLOYD SERIES

Color Blind

 

To be black or brown in America

Is to be born a person of interest

A perpetual suspect by birthright

 

To wear the blue in America

Is to be beyond question

Beyond suspicion or reproach

Beyond the reach of justice

Beyond the veil of accountability

 

To be black or brown and angry

Is guilt beyond all reason

A verdict preordained

A sentence without mercy

Without doubt or second thought

 

For justice is not color blind

It sees the colors black and brown

And hands a sentence down

It sees the color blue

And presumes the word is true

 

No justice is not balanced

And it is not color blind

For it depends on your skin

The justice you will find