The River Po

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RIVER SERIES

The River Po

 

Running from the Alps to the Adriatic Sea

A wide and mighty river

The longest in Italy

 

It feeds the wealth of Turin and lovely Milan

Where da Vinci designed channels

Where poets devised songs

 

It concludes its run near Venice

Where it is populated by eels

Such a very strange phenomenon

To provide Italian meals

 

The great river nearly dried up

Twice in twenty years

That it will happen once again

Fuels our global warming fears

 

The river that turns purple

Like the wines that we hold dear

May one day not too distant

Simply fold and disappear

 

Living with The Dead

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Living with the Dead

 

Down in Mexico they speak to the dead

And the dead speak back

Not just on the Day of the Dead

But every day

The dead live among the living

To guide or obstruct them

As they desire

To whisper sweet dreams

Or inspire howling nightmares

To give comfort or fright

Through the long-lost nights

 

Up north we also live with our dead

Their spirits walk among us

They curse and bless us

They teach and lead us astray

But we rarely acknowledge them

As other cultures may

We keep them in our hearts

We lock them away

And rarely let them out

We know they are with us

But we keep them hidden

In the shadows of our souls

 

The Tree that Held Up the Sky

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

The Tree that Held Up the Sky

 

They plunged through the world

Like three fools who did not care

Let it fly! they told each other

Let it break and tear!

They lit a fire beneath a big broad oak

Just to see if it would burn

They fed the flames

That fueled the fire

(no, they did not learn)

They watched the flames grow higher

They laughed til they grew tired

They never thought

They never cared

They never questioned why

This was the very oak

That held up all the sky

 

They did not make connections

When the sky began to fall

They searched for someone different

On whom to blame it all

That one is dark and that one weird!

On this they all agreed

It was what they always feared

The others did the nasty deed

We cannot tell a lie!

They threw stones and made it bleed

Til it cracked the fragile sky!

 

A man came forth with weary eyes

And cast them on the three

You dare to speak of lies?

When it was you who burned the tree

That held up all the sky!

The fools looked at each other

And released a mighty sigh

You know us friends and brothers!

Even if we tried

We could not burn the tree

That holds up all the sky!

 

Of course it did not matter

For the sky came crashing down

And their foolish fate was sealed

When they hid on open ground

 

The Corruption of Moderation

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

 

The Corruption of Moderation

 

Moderation is the avoidance of extremes

In behavior thought or opinion

Corruption is the distortion of behavior

Or opinion for nefarious gain

 

A time comes to call a horse a horses

To call a mule a mule

Let us stop playing West Virginians

And Arizonans for fools

 

No one anywhere votes for a Democrat

Because they don’t want to tax the wealthy

There are a whole lot of Arizona elders

Who just want a chance to stay healthy

 

The good working people of West Virginia

Have never been in love with coal

Ask them and they will tell you twice

They just want out of the hole

 

The sorry truth is both senators

Are on the corporate dole

One is beholden to pharmaceuticals

The other is beholden to coal

 

Stop pretending that moderation

Is the central reason we are stuck

When in fact the honorable senators

Sold their souls for a lousy buck

 

River of Wind

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

River of Wind

 

Storm of storms

Sky river of wind and rain

A torrent of building waves

Bending tall trees of oak and pine

Triggering mud and rock slides

Washing away highways

Tumbling boulders

Smashing buildings and homes

Trails of ruin down the coast

 

The wind whistles through the leaves

Before it becomes a scream

Howling like a pack of wolves

Like an enraged poet on a rant

Lost in nature’s dream

None will get out unscathed

None will be unaffected

 

Terror strikes the afflicted

In the widening path of destruction

An instinct to run is countered

By the realization: it’s too late

Run if you will

Stay if you must

But know: our lives are forever

Changed

Standing with The People (of Sudan)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Standing with the People (of Sudan)

 

A diversity of citizenry in Sudan

In the public square have taken a stand

To demand a representative democracy

To reject a strongman autocracy

 

Back down you generals and commanders

This is not the way to go

For though the road is paved with hardship

Its progress is steady and slow

 

Do not turn your guns on the people

Let them work to find a way out

Overcome your need for power

Reject your burden of doubt

 

Democracy must find a way

Like water through fields of stone

Uphold the will of the people

And you will never stand alone

 

All nations of law and liberty

Must back the people of Sudan

As they make their voices heard

As they take a courageous stand

 

Fires in the Caves of Thought

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Fires in the Caves of Thought *

 

We are as cave beings

Searching for the flame

That will light the fires of thought

 

We grunt and moan as the ancients did

To convey our wants and needs

We find stones to throw at our adversaries

We find plants to feed our children

We will kill to enable survival

 

Once in a rare while

We find words that spark a flame

That light a fire

That warms the soul

On a cold and bitter night

 

We search for others

To share the warmth

To fill the quiet moments

In the caves of our thoughts

 

We live we love we cherish

Just as the ancients did

We form circles of common cause

To ease the pain of living

To share the hardship

To celebrate the triumph

Of truth and survival

 

* Jack Foley “Shadow Boxing with Floyd”

(for Floyd Salas)

 

Looking Back

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN HISTORY

 

Looking Back

 

Ten years ago pot was illegal

In fifty of fifty states

Twenty years ago killer cops

Never made the news

(buried in the back pages)

And black lives never mattered

(except Martin Luther King)

Thirty years ago gay people

And gay love were outlawed

Forty years ago indigenous people

Had no voice in government

(certainly not in the BIA)

And the American genocide

Was not recorded in history

(remember Wounded Knee)

Fifty years ago the government

Spied on people with impunity

(Richard Nixon and the FBI)

And soldiers returning from Vietnam

Received no treatment for wounds

Of the mind spirit or soul

(Agent Orange and PTSD)

Sixty years ago college athletes

Beat up hipsters and gays for fun

Seventy years ago we stood in line

For crewcuts and puff hairdos

Eighty years ago we fought

The fascist war machine

And won

 

The years roll by

Like a river runs

The waves of change

Sweep over us

In many ways we are so much

Better than once we were

In other ways we have advanced

Only to turn back again

 

The struggle never ends

Yet history still bends

Toward the just and righteous

When Democracy Dies

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

 

When Democracy Dies

 

When democracy dies

We begin a slow descent into anarchy

We yield control of all institutions

From civil society to law enforcement

We yield the streets to gangland dominance

And compel our children to choose

Behold Nicaragua Columbia Haiti Mexico

Witness Russia Georgia Ukraine

Beware Hungary Greece Brazil Spain

You cannot play with fire

Without getting burned

You cannot entice autocracy

Without lessons to be learned

 

Democracy does not die in a single blow

Democracy dies steady and slow

From a thousand cuts over time

Placing government in a tangled bind

A perpetual failure to compromise

An absence of the reasonable and wise

A betrayal of corporate corruption

A long slow burn to a final eruption

A deliberate attack on the vote

A dozen leaks sink the boat

 

Take a good look around you

The betrayers slowly surround you

To deliver yet another blow

And watch the doubters grow

 

Democracy is at the stake

Fight back before it is too late

 

American Extravagance

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

American Extravagance

 

We have always embraced our choices

Choices in trucks and cars

Choices in Hollywood stars

Choices in toothpaste

How much can we waste?

Choices in breakfast cereal

Basic grains or ethereal?

Choices in frozen foods

Choices in bread and booze

Choices in soft drinks

Choices in what to think

Choices in political candidates

To show up early or very late

Choices in film and entertainment

To expand our minds or find containment

Choices in fast food cuisine

Choices in washing machines

Choices in soaps and cleansers

Choices in lighting and sensors

Choices in quality and price

Choices in three-minute rice

 

What happens to our sense of self

When we find few choices on the shelf?

When the vast array of products

Shrinks to what we need

Where then will it lead?

 

Will we still be Americans?

Will we still hold our heads high?

Will we still be exceptional?

Will we still have our pride?

 

The chain of production and

Shipping is breaking down

The coils of capitalism

Becoming unwound

 

When we have more jobs than we can fill

Will our confidence turn to doubt?

We’re running fast but standing still

Must we learn how to do without?

 

Is this America? Can we survive?

What will sacrifice to stay alive?

 

Song of Oleg (Deripraska)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD AFFAIRS

Song of Oleg (Deripraska)

 

I sing of Oleg, Putin’s stooge

Pressed by the law he came unglued

To the FBI he sang his song

The Donald was their man all along

 

I’ll sing all day and I’ll sing all night

I’m very rich but not so bright

Vladimir made me do it all

If you doubt my word, give him a call

 

We’re all a part of Putin’s scheme

To own America is Putin’s dream

It was just a dream til he came along

When he began to sing our song

 

Of mother Russia proud and true

There was next to nothing he would not do

He pushed forward and we held him back

Slow it down but stay on track

 

Now give me diplomatic immunity

Let me operate with pure impunity

Keep me safe from Putin’s goons

And I will sing for you a tune

And tell a tale of Putin’s sorrow

His dream of a new Russian tomorrow

 

(regards to e.e. cummings)

Chicago Cops

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

 

Chicago Cops

 

To serve and protect

Is a simple proposition

If a cop cannot protect the people

If a cop claims a right to harm

If a cop refuses to be vaccinated

As a matter of personal freedom

That cop cannot fulfill his promise

That cop has betrayed her basic duty

And can no longer serve

In good conscience

 

In a city blighted by poverty and crime

That so many cops are willing to

Turn their backs on the public good

Is itself a crime against all cops

A disgrace to the uniform

A stain on the badge

 

Cops are not the arbiters of justice

Nor the determiners of policy

They are soldiers in this war

And soldiers must take orders

 

If what is happening in Chicago

Is happening in other cities

It is time to rebuild from

The bottom up

 

Remember Typhoid Mary

Who claimed her rights as well

Such rights would lead us all to hell

 

Looking Back

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Looking Back

 

Ten year ago pot was illegal

In fifty of fifty states

Twenty years ago killer cops

Never made the news

And black lives never mattered

Thirty years ago gay people

And gay love was outlawed

Forty years ago indigenous people

Had no voice in government

And the American genocide

Was not recorded in history

Fifty years ago the government

Spied on people with impunity

And soldiers returning from Vietnam

Received no treatment for wounds

Of the mind spirit or soul

Sixty years ago college athletes

Beat up hipsters and gays for fun

Seventy years ago we stood in line

For crewcuts and puff hairdos

Eighty years ago we fought

The fascist war machine

And won

 

The years roll by

Like a river runs

The waves of change

Sweep over us

In many ways we are so much

Better than once we were

In other ways we have advanced

Only to turn back again

 

The struggle never ends

Yet history still bends

Toward the righteous

Back Page Ramble (Nobody Knows)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Back Page Ramble (Nobody Knows)

 

To be so young and to know so much

Makes me wonder how long we’ve been in touch

I have wasted most of my time so long

Now everything I thought was wrong

For when I was a child I was innocent

I fought to find what the message meant

So I grew up fast and I grew up strong

When others led I went along

I could not find the power

It was not my finest hour

 

If we knew now what we knew then

Would we have the strength to start again?

Nobody knows

 

Now that I am old I know just what to do

But I lack the strength to see it through

So I wait for someone to come for us

To get on board the big yellow bus

To take us where we’ll start again

We know it’ll come we don’t know when

We will stand up like the towers

It will be our finest hour

 

If we knew then what we know now

Would we find a way somehow?

Nobody knows

 

(regards to the immortal Bob Dylan)