Inside the Walls

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Inside the Walls

 

For a year I have looked at walls

from the outside looking in

 

A barrier meant to be breached

by gates and doorways has blocked

my passage compromised my freedom

alter my perception and confined

my experience like prison bars

 

A world of spectacular sights smells

taste and touch profoundly altered

by a year of constant denial

 

How strange it now seems to enter stores

To walk freely among masked consumers

Testing produce by touch

Observing the public behavior

of our fellow beings

recalculating right and wrong

proper and improper

 

For I have dwelled upon another planet

far from the place I know

and I have returned to find myself

a stranger in a strange land

my normal no longer normal

my instincts out of rhythm

my song out of time

 

I will rejoice for I am welcome here

My feet can find the proper pace

My mind will restore the balance

My life will find its place

 

The Long War

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: HISTORY

The Long War

 

It began with the will to war

by a president whose claim to office

was as suspect as his intellect

 

It began with a lie as so many wars do

Afghanistan provided safe haven to AQ

(the CIA contracted and armed AQ

implanting them in the Afghan war

to defeat the Russians)

The truth is the first casualty of war

Journalism is often the second

 

We’ve carried the lies of war

for twenty years and carry them still

 

We fought to end terror

We fought to avenge 911

We fought for the Afghan women

We fought for democracy

 

When everyone knows we fought

to prove we were the biggest bully

on the Mideast block

We fought to prove we were badder

than the Russians

We fought because we needed a war

to test our weapons

to clear the docket for new weapons

to test our advanced technology

to show the world what shock

and awe looks like

in the flesh

 

We moved on to Iraq

but we forgot to move out

Afghanistan became an afterthought

A deadly wicked afterthought

It was a war we could not win

It was a war we should never have fought

We never had the hearts of the people

An invader never will

 

You cannot win the people

with death and destruction

We lost the war before it began

and we’ve been losing ever since

 

The bully always loses

in the end

 

Dust Bowl (History Series)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: HISTORY SERIES

Dust Bowl (History Series)

 

The dust rolled in like a giant wave

Sweeping the land and hills

Swallowing farms like morbid graves

Take cover and write your wills

 

Oklahomans lined up on the westward trail

To join the farm labor force

To them the American dream had failed

Leaving them without recourse

 

Mothers with their babes in arm

Fathers desperate to make a buck

Protect their children from all harm

Begging for work and praying for luck

 

Hard working women and men

Tossed out on a crowded road

Whole families rendered homeless

Like the family of ma and pa Joad

 

They lived in camps and rode the rails

Derided as ignorant no good bums

When they held a hand out for help

They were spit on and treated like scum

 

But they held their heads high

And they found a way

Hard times made them stronger

And they’re stronger to this day

 

Teach your Children

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Teach your Children

 

The way of the world is not determined

It could take most any path

It could go the way of enlightenment

Or choose the way of wrath

 

Teach your children right and wrong

There is no greater lesson

Help them grow up brave and strong

And always to ask questions

 

Teach them to respect all others

Without regard to race or creed

We are all equal in human value

Without regard to need

 

When in doubt do not pretend

Admit that you just don’t know

Allow them to discover truth

And give them room to grow

 

The children will become the teachers

To guide us through the night

If they learn their lessons well

The future will be bright

 

How many tears?

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GEORGE FLOYD SERIES

How many tears?

 

How many times must we bear witness?

How many tears must we cry?

How much sorrow must we endure?

How many souls must die?

 

As we depart the days of winter

And breathe the freshness of spring

It is a time of revival and rebirth

When the robins and angels sing

 

Yet the time of mourning still lingers

The wail of the nightingale’s song

The executioner’s gaze still haunts us

With the dead of society’s wrong

 

It seems we will never learn

As it happens again and again

The nightmares of history repeated

The horrors that have always been

 

So how much blood must flow?

How many tears must we cry

Before we learn beyond knowing

That too many people have died?

 

National Pride

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR

National Pride

 

(for Hideki Matsuyama)

 

The pride of his nation

He represented with honor and dignity

He faced down the beast of adversity

Not once or twice but thrice

He stared into the abyss

And hunted down the victory

Like a man driven by destiny

He felt enormous pressure

But he would not yield

 

Few of us will ever feel the kind

Of pressure brought to bear

On this one man’s shoulders

The massive weight of generations

The eyes and ears of millions

Their hopes prayers and devotion

All placed in one man’s hands

 

He is a champion for the ages

He will dwell in the house of heroes

All the days of his life

He will dwell in the hall

Of legends forever

The Martyr (for Navalny)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

The Martyr (for Navalny)

 

The bravest warrior or the foolish heart

Those who fall in battle play the part

Of martyrs for a righteous cause

The return of justice or better laws

Let us bow our heads and pause

 

For every cause must pay a cost

Nothing’s gained if nothing’s lost

The people must be made to feel

The loss of someone true and real

Martyrdom must seal the deal

 

The one who’s called to pay the price

Must volunteer to sacrifice

His sweat and tears are not enough

His blood pain enduring strife

He must yield his very life

 

Fellow citizens of every country

All across the planet earth

We celebrate the founding martyrs

To give democracy its birth

For that is what the cause is worth

 

We celebrate Navalny

Behind the nation’s bars

In death he will assume

His place among the stars

And in the people’s hearts

 

January 6

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

January 6

 

To all those who watched the insurrection

Without revulsion or remorse

You are not a patriot

No matter how many flags you wave

They attempted to overthrow democracy

And they did so in our name

 

To those who shrug and turn away

As if it was just another day

You can no longer call yourselves Americans

You have lost the right

You do not know what America represents

You do not know what America stands for

You do not know what America is

 

To those who say what’s done is done

Be forewarned

If the insurgents get away with it

They will be back

And this time they’ll carry guns

 

Obsession

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

 

Obsession

 

Fixation to the point of madness

Where nothing else exists

There is not another anywhere

There is only this

 

I have known a life of order

I know exactly what it is

There are so many things of interest

I have made an extensive list

 

But something grabs ahold of me

It will not let me go

It takes me by the hand

And tells me what I know

 

For some it’s about money

For others it’s about a game

For some it’s about a lover

In the end it’s always the same

 

Obsession steals a man’s soul

Leaves him desperate and lost

For the object of our obsessions

Will exact an unbearable cost

American Spring

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

American Spring

 

The air implodes with life

Bursts with excitement

Players stand ready

On the field of play

A jump in every step

A smile on every face

 

Flowers in full bloom

Lovers in the parks

Reclining on lazy blankets

Sipping wine with tender lips

Enchanting glances

A gentle kiss

Tasting the nectar of life

 

Children laugh dance and play

Carefree cartwheels on the lawn

Butterflies and violins

Ice cream trucks and daffodils

Moms with strollers

Babes with wide eyes

Drinking the sensory feast

 

Springtime in America

Hope and happiness abound

Somehow we know

It will all be okay

Somehow we sense

It begins again today

 

Good Morning

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  LIFE SONGS

 

Good Morning

 

(a prayer for a new beginning)

 

Good morning in America

Good morning to the world

Today is the day we unify

In the fight against disease

Today is the day we rally

In the battle for equality

Today is the day we break through

In our desire to understand each other

Today is the day we stand u[p

In the pledge against all war

Today is the day we affirm

A declaration of human rights

Today is the day we push forward

In the quest for universal democracy

Today is thew day we resolve ourselves

In the mission to end hunger

Today is the day we move ahead

In the struggle for clean air

Today is the day we commit

In the push to clean the earth

Today is the day we plant the staff

In the effort to save the wilderness

Today is the day we embrace

The knowledge of our unity

In these and all things decent

Good and true

 

Mitakuye oyasin

We are all one

 

Paris in Crisis

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Paris in Crisis

 

Paris is overcrowded

It has long been so

It is a part of its eternal charm

The optimal use of space

The ancient walls of stone

That reach back centuries

And proclaim sophistication

A great source of pride

To all of civilization

 

Paris is in crisis once again

She survived the first and second waves

She endured the third

Now she suffers through a fourth

The monster is at her door

And she must do battle once more

 

Parisians are famous for their style

Their carefree devil-may-care spirit

They would give anything for art

Anything for architecture

Anything for poetry and dance

Anything for music and joy

And breathing the fresh spring air

Without a waste of care

 

Afternoons beneath a loving sun

Evenings in a gentle breeze

Enjoying the company of others

Discussing love and other wonders

Politics and esoteric delights

Fine food and copious wine

Living their lives on Paris time

 

They would give it all for love

And nearly all for art

But it seems they will not sacrifice

A season of sartorial pleasures

To bring this nightmare to a close

The world will follow where Paris goes

 

Dead in Brazil

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

 

Dead in Brazil

 

A nation’s people pay the price

For a supremely incompetent leader

Bolsonaro served the function

Of a coronavirus breeder

 

He refused to acknowledge

The nature of the beast

Allowing it to spread from

The west out to the east

 

Now the virus takes its hold

As it kills both young and old

While the people party on

Like the chorus of a song

Though they know it can’t be right

They have given up the fight

So they pretend it isn’t real

They tell their hearts not to feel

They fill their days with laughter

But will mourn forever after

 

It is the dirge of Bolsonaro

It is a bold and deadly show

Three hundred thousand dead and rising

Without sign that it will slow

 

We must bow our heads and pray

If we are the praying kind

We will send what help we can

Take what comfort you can find

 

Machines II

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Machines II

 

Machines machines machines

Machines are everywhere

They’re in your living quarters

They chase you up the stairs

They follow you downtown

They greet you at the fair

They take you to the market

And choose your style of hair

 

Machines machines machines

Machines are everywhere

They get inside your head

They know how much you care

When they disapprove your actions

They look at you and stare

They take you for a ride

They tell you when to share

Machines machines machines

Machines are everywhere

 

You may live in the mountains

And breathe the mountain air

You may live on an island

In your own private lair

You may live in the desert

So far away no one would dare

But you can’t escape their reach

Machines are everywhere

 

Collective Unconscious

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Collective Unconscious

 

(for Carl Jung)

 

That which connects us all

Making the many one

From the most remote tribe in the Amazon

To the high church in Rome

From the oldest temple of Buddha

To the Anastasi cave dwellings

The trinity within the trinity without

The mother the father the great spirit

The father the mother the holy ghost

The past the present the future

The mother the father the child

That which connects each of us

And from the multitudes makes one

In the deepest folds of our unconscious mind

That which binds us to the ancestors

That which links us to our successors

That which hurls us into an unknown

Future with eyes wide shut

The conscious the unconscious the subconscious

The dream the nightmare the waking world

The day the night and twilight

Life death and in between

Our desired needs and possessions

The imagined the perceived the real

The mind the body the heart

The pillars of life faith and art

We are all what we are as all

We are all what we are as one