The Day Democracy Died

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

The Day Democracy Died

 

History is a strange phenomenon

You don’t see it when it’s happening

You don’t know when it makes a difference

You don’t recognize the signs

You don’t piece together the facts

Until it’s too late to react

 

They lost an election fair and square

Nothing they could do about it

They yelled and screamed: it’s not fair!

Told the whole white world: we doubt it!

 

But when they charged the nation’s capital

They changed the nature of the game

No longer open to debate and reason

It begged another harsher name

They crossed a line to treason

 

If the traitors get away with it

If their treacherous leader is never tried

We may well remember that day

As the day our democracy died

 

Don’t think it cannot happen here

It can and will I fear

If we do not raise the warning cry

If we perpetuate the evil lie

If we do not give it proper weight

Dictatorship could be our fate

 

A Fool's Rights

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

A Fool’s Rights

 

Every fool has a right to folly

Every bigot has a right to bigotry

Every racist has a right to his own

Every ass imagines chivalry

The old South may have its charm

But no one has the right to harm

 

Say that the planet is a flat plain

Floating in a bowl of water

Tell me our leaders are reptiles

Born of reptilian daughters

Say that the people are mostly sheep

And none of us really matter

Tell me I’m dumb as a cucumber

Or as mad as the Mad Hatter

 

I’ll defend your right to speak freely

To say whatever you please

As long as you don’t harm others

Or spread a deadly disease

 

Arise and Behold!

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

Arise and Behold

 

Arise and behold

In the twenty-first century

Millions of people live in squalor

Millions have no medical care

Millions die for want of food

Millions drink from poisoned water

 

Arise and behold

The depths of our despair

WE CANNOT GO ON

We hold our breath and stare

PRETENDING NOTHING’S WRONG

At those who die for lack of care

SINGING YESTERDAY’S SONG

We’re trapped inside a lair

FOLLOWING THE MINDLESS THRONG

We demand what’s only fair

 

Arise and behold

We are the blessed and the bright

WE ARE YOUNG THEY ARE OLD

We take what’s ours and say goodnight

THEY ARE SOFT WE ARE BOLD

Trust our leaders will do what’s right

WE’RE THE SELLERS THEY’RE THE SOLD

Pick and choose the righteous fight

WE STAY WARM WHEN THEY ARE COLD

Keep our loved ones within our sight

NEVER WILL WE FOLD

Always reach the highest heights

THEY WILL DO WHAT THEY’RE TOLD

Always know we’ll be alright

 

Arise and behold

We are the greatest force on earth

FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE

An empire greater than Charlemagne’s

A BLESSING OR A CURSE

Possessing wealth beyond imagination

GUARDIANS OF THE EARTH

Knowledge and technology

NEVER KNOWING WHAT ITS WORTH

The envy of all the gods

NEVER CARING WHO WE HURT

And yet we suffer from anxiety

TIL WE AWAKEN IN THE MORN

We suffer from insecurity

FORSAKEN AND FORLORN

We suffer at our own failure

STRICKEN TO THE CORE

To ease the world’s pain

 

Arise and behold

Or bow down and fold

We know we can do better

 

 

[Note: Jack Foley pioneered the multi-voiced poem or poetic duet.]

Kindness of Strangers

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Kindness of Strangers

 

I remember small towns

Where common folks wore smiles

And welcomed you with kindness

Where nothing ever riled

As if they knew your heart

And found it filled with joy

They’d walk with you for miles

Just to show you the best way

Where all the girls and boys

Greeted you like a movie star

And begged for you to play

You’d think: they’re being coy

But they like the way you are

And they wish that you would stay

Another day it’s not that far

 

Those days are now gone

Like a calm before a storm

Like a wish for blowing candles out

Like the chill after a warm

People greet you with suspicion

And a strong measure of doubt

As if they know by intuition

Are you with them or agin them?

You’re agin them by and by

Unless you know what they’re about

And so we go our separate ways

Never knowing how or why

We became so lonely and alone

So estranged and so disturbed

Always gazing at the phone

Never trusting what you’ve heard

Never giving a kind word

To strangers in your town

Who do not know the way around

 

Adversity II

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Adversity II

 

You cannot breach the summit

Without a slip

 

You cannot cross the river

Without a scare

 

You cannot complete a journey

Without a detour

 

You cannot fulfill a life

Without regrets

 

In any endeavor of importance

In any mission of worth

In any undertaking for any reason

In any venture on this earth

There will be adversity

 

The greater the objective

The stronger the resistance

Those who embrace adversity

Those who relish the opportunity

Those who take it in stride

Without grief or remorse

Will not only survive but thrive

 

Adversity is the great teacher

The developer of character

 

May Day (Premature Celebration)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

May Day

 

The mood is jubilation

The Derby is in bloom

Thousands gather in celebration

A portent of what looms

 

Have we jumped the gun again?

Lowered the bar to the ground?

Have we forgotten where we’ve been?

Rising when we should stay down?

 

I fear the worst will follow

Declaring victory before it’s done

These celebrations will ring hollow

Raising a pennant we have not won

 

I dearly hope that I am wrong

But I have seen this act before

Could it be the same old song:

Dropping anchor too far from shore

Dignity

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  LIFE SONGS

Dignity

 

I am a proud man

In this I am everyone

I have crossed the seven seas

I have climbed the fiercest mountain

I have faced the beast and lived

I have witnessed the wonders of the universe

Explored the farthest reaches of space

Captured the mysteries of the heart

Lost my way in a maze of dreams

and known what awestruck means

 

I have created works of beauty

Drawn tears from the eyes of men

I have known the truth of love

I have felt the sting of betrayal

I have celebrated many victories

and learned the lessons of defeat

 

When you have taken all else

My sight my soul my memories

Be merciful have sympathy

Leave me with my dignity

 

Without dignity what reason is there

to remain in this world of wonder?

 

I am Dreaming

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

I am Dreaming

 

I am dreaming of a world

Where John Lennon enjoys old age

In the company of George and Yoko

Dylan Thomas and Walt Whitman

Where conversation is song

Reflection is poetry

And there is no wrong

I am dreaming of a world where

We all belong

 

I am dreaming of a world

Where the nightingale sings

Where the air smells of roses

Where waterfalls and clarion calls

Greet every waking morning

Where purpose is a given

Where every breath has meaning

Where there is no wrong

And everyone belongs

 

I am dreaming of a world

Where heartbreak is measured

By our ability to cope

Where every sad end has a bright

New beginning filled with hope

And treasures of happiness

Where sorrow never lasts too long

And all souls belong

 

I am dreaming of a place

Where love runs through our veins

In the rivers in the rain

Where every wish is kindness

Where every want is generosity

Where there is no war

Where we’ve forgotten what it’s for

Where there can be no wrong

Where we all get along

And everyone belongs

 

(after Ferlinghetti’s I am Waiting)

Modi of India

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Modi (PM Narendra Modi of India)

 

“He has lit funeral pyres in every house”

As they rush to bury the dead

“The monster swallows our people”

An overwhelmed official said

 

Modi declared victory many months ago

Celebrations ran across the nation

The deadly virus was defeated

Vaccines were the great salvation

 

Now the hospitals are overwhelmed

The crematoriums and cemeteries

The people suffer from exhaustion

Bitter with outrage and wary

 

They pretended all was well

Under their strong and boastful leader

But their collective overconfidence

Became a coronavirus breeder

 

Now they sound the toll of death

Every morning until night

What was once a victory dance

Has become an endless fight

 

The Intelligence of the Body

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  LIFE SONGS

The Intelligence of the Body

 

The body possesses intelligence

It informs the mind of what it needs

Seeking balance grace and nourishment

Healthy patterns is what it breeds

 

Abuse the mind offend the body

Abuse the body offend the mind

Mind body heart and soul

A balance of the delicate kind

 

Too often we listen to our hearts

And yield to passions of desire

Too much too soon too often

Can lead to consequence most dire

 

In following the way of the mind

Far too often we may pretend

We can far exceed our natural limit

Pushing past the point of mend

 

We often go the way of soul

We have no choice we must

But if the body cannot endure

We can no longer trust

 

The body is both hearth and home

It must endure our trials and tests

Take care to listen with respect

For the body knows what’s best

One World (Ode to India)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

One World (Ode to India)

 

The virus explodes in India while

The western world begins to breathe

America regains her footing

In Europe the crisis begins to ease

 

The vaccines slowly work their magic

Supplanting despair with hope

Transforming a worried world

Inspiring the ability to cope

 

There is little hope in India

Fear consumes the masses

Death invades the nation’s heart

Cutting across all classes

It steals the very breath of light

As hope slinks out of sight

 

There is not enough vaccine in India

It’s not that we don’t care

The western world has claimed its own

We just don’t care enough to share

To millions in Mumbai and elsewhere

America first becomes a death knell

Under the curse of Covid’s spell

 

India is not alone in desperation

Brazil and much of Africa cry out

For help that only we can provide

If we can overcome our doubt

And serve the nation’s pride

For we have more than we can use

We have millions who refuse

 

Open the doors and let them in

The world is a small place after all

We must unite to win this fight

We must answer the global call

Sacred Rights

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Sacred Rights 

 

There is no right to yell fire

in a crowded theater

Yet there is a right to carry

weapons of war on the

streets of protest

 

There is no right to slander officials

for vile offensive acts

Yet there is a right to spew

vile abusive language on social

media or in the town square

 

The right to gather in protest

has long been under siege

undermined by both parties

as if they both agreed

to compromise our basic rights

in the interest of public image

or political expedience

 

We have stood by while too

many of our sacred rights

have been compromised or wished

away by overzealous officials

 

The right to vote

The right to speak out

The right to public protest

The right to impartial news

The right to free and fair elections

 

It is time to stand against the onslaught

It is time to stand for freedom

A freedom that is in balance

With democracy and civil rights

 

Guilty

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  GEORGE FLOYD SERIES

Guilty

 

There was more than a man on trial

More than an officer of the law

Justice itself was on trial

Compassion was on trial

The nature of truth was in the balance

 

There was more than a man on trial

More than a silver badge

More than the state of Minnesota

More than law in America

 

The history of race relations

The history of slavery and discrimination

The history of lies and betrayals

The history of civil rights

The blood of the martyrs

Tears of the fallen survivors

 

There was more than a man on trial

More than this nation

The tainted history of civilization

The oppressed and the oppressor

Centuries of recrimination

An honest reckoning for reparations

 

We were all on trial

The privileged and the innocent

The naïve and unknowing

The products of culture and education

Centuries of indoctrination

 

We were all on trial

And we were found guilty

Guilty of not knowing

Guilty of not believing

Guilty of not caring enough

To make the necessary changes

A long time ago

 

Hope Rises

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

 

Hope Rises

 

Hope rises with a touch of spring

Fruit ripened on the vine

The scent of sun kissed pollen

Clouds of cream and golden glory

A symphony of wine and roses

The sweet and bitter taste of hope

 

We have bathed ourselves in

Endless waves of sorrow

We have seen the blood red sky

We have marched the mourning dirge

We have witnessed beauty die

 

Yet we have lived to tell the story

To keep our future’s faith alive

So we awaken to this morning

When tears of hope fulfill our eyes

Pray the worst is over now

Pray we have survived

 

Hope rises with the season

And empties out our shame

We remember all our wonders

Miracles too great to name

Justice in a Time of Passion

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE

Justice in a Time of Passion

 

Justice is not angry

Justice is cool calm and calculating

It desires truth as the poet desires love

It leans on facts as the toddler

clings to her mother’s hand

 

Justice is not vengeance

It is a balancing of the account

It is an assurance that injustice

will not and cannot happen

without appropriate consequence

 

Justice is not the great redeemer

Justice is not the avenging angel

Justice is not an impassioned warrior

Justice is a blind woman with a scale

 

She serves no one’s cause

She answers no one’s call

She stills herself to listen

She absorbs all the facts

She measures their worth

and delivers her judgment

 

If justice does her job well

no one is fully satisfied

but we are empowered

to accept her decree

and move on