Reclaim Patriotism (On Tyranny)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ON TYRANNY

 

Reclaim Patriotism

 

Tyranny flies under the flag of patriotism

Authoritarians always lay claim

But if we live in a true democracy

There is no greater lie

And can be no greater shame

 

The cry of patriotism fuels the lies of war

Demands the sacrifice of basic rights

Justifies unspeakable crimes

Defends the indefensible

Leads to internal strife

 

It is time to redefine patriotism

It is time to reclaim the flag

 

A patriot believes in the nation

For what it represents

Not unconditionally like lemmings

Marching blindly into the sea

But for what the nation stands for

And for what it proudly could be

 

A patriot defends the nation and her flag

Against those who would abuse her

Fomenting violence and immoral acts

Committing injustice in her name

And demanding we excuse her

 

A patriot knows and upholds

The bill of rights

Against pretenders who never read

Past the second amendment

 

A patriot stands for free and fair elections

The foundation of our democracy

Without regard for the outcome

But with respect for the ballot box

 

A patriot supports a free press

Including mainstream media

Especially when it conflicts

One’s own beliefs

 

A patriot raises a hand

Takes an oath to democracy

And swears to defend it

Against all enemies

 

(Based on Timothy Snyder's excellent pamphlet.)

Bodies in the Ganges

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Bodies in the Ganges

 

Bodies float down the Ganges

By the dozens by the scores

The result of too many corpses

To bury or burn and mourn

 

Take care it does not happen here

It can and surely will

If we do not heed the warnings

Our cemeteries will be filled

 

We have declared victory

Just as India and Brazil did

They opened the doors of commerce

They took the highest bids

 

Now there are bodies in the Ganges

There are loved ones left forlorn

And there are leaders in Mumbai

Whom the people have come to scorn

 

Fight Back

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

Fight Back

 

Resist

Fight back

Seize the day

Let them know

There will be a price to pay

 

A landlord serves eviction notice

To a community of seniors

In a recreational vehicle park

They have nowhere to go

But they cannot stay

 

Resist

Fight back

Stand in their way

Let them know

There will be a price to pay

 

A Canadian oil company

Wants to drive a pipeline

Straight through Indian land

They claim there is

No other way

 

Resist

Fight back

Seize the day

Let them know

There will be a price to pay

 

A coal company stakes claim

To a beautiful lake in Michigan

The land the air the water

The wildlife and ecosystem

All will be thrown astray

 

Resist

Fight back

Seize the day

Let them know there will always be

A price to pay

 

Everywhere injustice raises its ugly head

Everywhere greed and avarice

Fill our pipes with lead

Every time the one percent

Bumps the price of bread

We must rise as one to say:

 

Resist

Fight back

Seize the day

Let them all know

There is always a price to pay

 

America Never Leaves

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

America Never Leaves

 

When the president announces an end to war

We take him at his word

We forget he’s not the first to promise

He is in fact the third

 

We did not leave the Philippines

We did not leave Japan

We did not leave Nicaragua

We did not leave the Nam

We did not leave Iraq

We have not left Iran

We will not leave Afghanistan

And we do not give a damn

 

We go to war where money talks

Not caring who it grieves

When America goes to war beware

America will not leave

 

So be wary if you want our help

There is something up our sleeve

When this mighty nation goes to war

We are not inclined to leave

 

Burning Books in Berlin

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

Burning Books in Berlin

 

People say it cannot happen

The deplorables can never win

The Nazi movement got its start

Burning books in Berlin

 

America is not so different

We’ve elected the worst of men

Men who sabotaged democracy

They stand ready to do it again

 

They gather by tens of thousands

Not knowing it’s a cardinal sin

To steal the vote from the opposition

Like burning books in Berlin

 

It seems we’ve turned the page on history

Tossed it in the garbage bin

Or placed the book on a raging fire

Like the Nazi’s in Berlin

Don't Panic (On Tyranny)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ON TYRANNY

Don’t Panic

 

Inevitably

That which we fear will happen

Must happen

In the course of time

In the unfolding of events

In the race against the darkness

Don’t panic

Remain calm

 

Those who would deny your freedom

And steal you rights

Are counting on your reflex

At the next cataclysmic event

Don’t panic

Remain calm

Keep your feet on the ground

And your faculties intact

 

For there will always be cataclysmic events

And people who wish to exploit them

For humans are an unscrupulous lot

Of power seeking women and men

 

Bush the Younger and old Dick Cheney

Exploited September eleven

Vlad the Bad exploited numerous threats

It’s been going on forever and ever

At least since nineteen and seven

 

The storming of the Capitol Building

Is the latest in tragic exploitation

The call goes out for new laws

To strip away our civil liberties

To conquer domestic terror

 

Don’t panic

Remain calm

Remember the Patriot Act

Remember the names they called us

For opposing

 

Of course there are homegrown terrorists

Of course they pose a threat

But ask yourself: 

Do our security forces

Need any more power

To spy on our fellow citizens?

 

Don’t panic

Remain calm

Proceed in due caution 

 

 (Based on Timothy Snyder's excellent pamphlet)

I Remember Mama (on Mothers Day)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Remembering Mama

 

I remember mama every time

I drive down the same road I drove

On my way to visit her at home

 

I remember mama every time

I see an easy rolling creek

Or majestic Sierra pines

Or old barns and rusted tractors

Like the ones she painted

With so much love and tenderness

 

I remember mama every time

I order cobbler or bread pudding

At an old time restaurant

That never seems to know

How to make it right

 

I remember mama every time

I see a game of scrabble

A deck of cards for pinochle

Rummy or Hoof and Mouth

And someone smiles like she did

When she scored a big hand

Or a seven letter word

 

I remember mama every time

I need an understanding ear

Or someone who will not judge

But will listen and nod her head

Knowing she is pleased just

To be here with her son

 

I remember mama all the time

 

Wishing you were here

Immortality

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

 

Immortality

 

The essence of immortality:

Everything that is will always be

 

The stone becomes the mountain

The mountain yields to the sea

The whales sing their timeless songs

Recording the planet’s history

Everything that is will always be

 

Death is but an illusion

The tree gives way to seeds

Though we mourn each mortal passing

Consciousness is the key

Everything that was continues to be

 

Time does not exist but

As an invention of the mind

A tablet to tell the story

Of man and woman kind

 

From the gardens of ancient Babylon

To the temples of antiquity

Everything that ever was

Will forever be

 

Nature Strikes Back

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

Nature Strikes Back

 

Nature betrays

Betrayed by man

Nature strikes back

Birds no longer passive

Recognize their mortal enemies

Band together in flocks and gaggles

Murders of crow

 

Oceans filled with toxic rage

Enough industrial waste to bury Africa

Enough poison for aquatic genocide

Tsunami winter is coming

Tsunami spring and summer

Vengeance of the sea gods

Poseidon and the leviathans

Wreaking havoc upon the land

 

The sky falls to a fevered howl

Angered at our indifference

Enraged at our willful negligence

Torrential wind and battering rain

Towers toppled and trees uprooted

Stripping the land of all monuments

To our never ending folly

 

Fire rips across the horizon

Converting lush green to dry brown

A barren cracked deserted land

No longer giving nourishment

No longer sustaining life

 

The earth cracks open

Angry molten lava springs forth

Four winds of destruction

Five directions to hell

 

A dream?

A vision ripped from the bowels?

The leanings of an overworked mind?

 

But fire bears no anger

Winds carry no rage

The rising sea seeks no vengeance

The abiding earth indifferent

We destroy ourselves

We take vengeance on ourselves

We have done this to ourselves

And we must make amends

 

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