The Rio Grande (River Series)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS (RIVER SERIES)

 

Rio Grande (River Series)

 

The river that divides north and south

El Norte y el Sur

A river that divides one nation from another

Dos lenguajes y culturas

A river that gives life

And takes life away

 

Songs sung and stories told

Midnight crossing under dim moonlight

Coyotes bent on betrayal

Money lost

Families broken

Children swept away

Mothers weeping

People abandoned like stray cattle

In the barren Arizona desert

 

If the Rio Grande could tell its story

Its waters would swell with tears

Its current run with the sweat of labor

Its banks stained with blood

 

The river gives and the river takes

Cross at your own peril

Cross if you must

Cross if you will

But beware: the river kills

 

The Journey

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

The Journey

 

At the birth of every journey

Lies hope tempered with knowledge

Obstacles will be encountered

Adversity will be opposed

There will be moments of achievement

Moments that transcend the limits

Of our common understanding

There will be moments of pure magic

And moments of shattering sorrow

Destiny looms on the road ahead

Yet the moment reigns supreme

Strength of character will be tested

Imagination will be challenged

Endurance pushed to the edge

And yet the journey beckons

Like a long lost lover in the fog of dreams

To witness the stars on a moonless night

To observe all life from the mountain top

To feel the power of a rolling river

The majestic beauty of an endless sky

To sense the heartbeat of the earth

The journey inspires the spirit

And lays bare the naked soul

Life itself is a journey and

Every journey is a life

Within a life

 

The Hidden Treasure (Putin's Wealth)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

The Hidden Treasure

 

The great dictator of the north

Holds his trillion-dollar treasure

In western banks and assets

He prefers his wealth is measured

In euros pounds and dollars

That western bankers can attest

His wealth rises from the north

But it settles in the west

 

The dictator’s greatest weakness

Is his fundamental need

For more and greater wealth

To satiate his greed

 

If we want to halt his march

To reclaim the Russian empire

We need not match his weapons

Fighting fire with greater fire

We need only seize his assets

And demand that he retire

 

The great dictator of the north

Will most assuredly change his ways

If he is made to understand

The price that he must pay

 

The Beast of Kazakhstan

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

The Beast of Kazakhstan

 

In the name of law and order

By order of executive decree

They shot down innocent protestors

Just for marching on the street

 

Dozens dead and numbers rising

For wanting to have a voice

A brazen leader worth despising

Opposed the basic right to choice

 

The heartless ruler of Kazakhstan

Stands strong with the Putin alliance

Numb to the people’s circumstance

Suppressing all acts of defiance

 

Free nations must rise and stand

To halt these waves of oppression

Resume the march of human rights

And end the age of regression

 

To the good people of Kazakhstan

Stand strong and make your case

Know that we stand with you

For the good of the human race

 

Memorial to Killers & Madmen

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL JUSTICE

Memorial

 

Evil men want to erase memories

Evil doers want to replace history

With patriotic mythologies

But the memorial remains

Indelibly imprinted in the hearts

And minds of the people

 

Stalin will always be Stalin

A stone-cold killer of men

Hitler will always be Hitler

A power-hungry madman

Mussolini will always be Mussolini

Driven by delusions of grandeur

Rasputin will always be Rasputin

Unchecked by moral grounding

Mao will always be Mao

Pol Pot will always be Pol Pot

Suharto will always be Suharto

Pinochet will always be Pinochet

Xi will always be Xi

And Putin will always be Putin

 

The memorial stands in perpetuity

Protected by the light of eternal truth

 

[Note: Putin orders the grim Memorial

to Stalin’s victims taken down.]

 

Whose Side are you On?

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Whose Side are you On? 

 

While the Trump insurrection rose

To a white-hot fever pitch

The army, the navy, and the guard

Stood down

 

The call to arms never came

The commander fell silent

The four-stars fell silent

 

They watched from the sidelines

As the gates of the Capitol fell

They watched as the halls of congress

Filled with angry assailants

They watched as the Capitol police

Were trampled by the mob

 

They knew without knowing

The president was behind the assault

They took sides by not taking sides

Between an outgoing president

And the house of the people

They chose the former

Between democracy and autocracy

They chose the latter

 

The question must now be asked

To every officer and soldier

In every branch of military service:

 

Whose side are you on?

The United States of America?

Or its betrayers? 

 

An Army in Hiding

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

An Army in Hiding

 

The insurgent army of January 6

Did not vanish with the smoke

Did not repent and disband

Did not cease to exist

 

The army of Trump

The army of Q

The army of white supremacy

Went back home to wait and watch

Went back home to recruit their kind

Went back home to gather arms

Went back home to build a movement

Went back home to hide in plain sight

 

The insurgent strike was a warning shot

They we have not taken to heart

Our media monopolies

Our talking heads

Our civil organizations

Our political establishment

Our institutions of law

Our elected leaders

At all levels of government

Have reacted to a violent assault

As if it was a political movement

Like the anti-tax Tea Party

Like the rise of the new progressives

Instead of the militant action it was

 

The army of the insurgency

Did not surrender

They retreated strategically

They withdrew from the battlefield

To fight another day

 

Their army is still intact

Their leaders are still in place

They prepare for the next battle

While our side (the American side)

Issues subpoenas and summons witnesses

 

By the time we awaken

To what must be done

Let us hope there is still a democracy

A United States of America

To defend

 

Praying for a Miracle

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Praying for a Miracle

 

The party went on as usual

Bands music laughter dance

As time passed fewer masks

Were worn by greater crowds

Drinking rose and lowered inhibitions

Gathering with friends and family

Witnessed no talk of the silent scourge

The elephant beneath the surface

The monster no one mentions

Though we all know is lurking

 

We’re banking on a miracle

To save us from ourselves

Banking on a miracle

To restore our fading health

 

In the nation where Mandela lived

In the southern hemisphere

For reasons no one understands

A miracle appears

 

The scourge is in remission

The omicron withdraws

Like an army in retreat before

The outcome is determined

 

Pray we get lucky

Pray it’s finally over

Not because we beat it

But because it tired of the battle

And retired to await another day

 

Lowest Common Denominator

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

Lowest Common Denominator

 

If we empower parents to veto

What can or cannot be taught in school

We’re playing to the lowest denominator

A curriculum for dolts and fools

 

Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain?

Hold on, think again

The man used the N word

(the one that doesn’t rhyme with tiger)

Like the rumbling of a train

 

Virginia Woolf and Thomas Paine?

Marked with a blasphemous stain

 

The truth about the American west?

It would never pass the test

 

The war to end the war in Nam?

Does anyone really give a dam?

 

The poetry of William Blake?

Throw it out for God’s sake

 

Socrates of ancient Greece?

We value his philosophy least

 

Let parents be the parents

Let teachers run the schools

Don’t ask anyone to do a job

If they do not possess the tools

 

Winter Wildfire (Prayers for Boulder CO)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

Winter Wildfire

 

If you’ve ever been to Boulder

You know

If you’ve ever known its wonder

You understand

 

Boulder is a home to art and artists

It is a place of poetry dance and music

It is a place that embraces philosophy

A place that encourages freedom of thought

 

If you’ve ever been to Boulder

You know it is an enchanted place

Where dreams take hold and flourish

 

Boulder is in trouble

As a winter wildfire strikes down

Her winter walls

Breaks down her gates

To threaten all who dwell within

 

Dozens of brave firefighters

Weary from their own battles

Stand ready to come to her defense

From all corners of the nation

Prayers and warm wishes

Rush to offer comfort and aide

 

Let us once again affirm that

We are all one

United in common purpose

Determined to protect our own

Whatever the cost

 

Through all storms and disasters

Through all misfortune and tragedy

We stand our ground in Boulder

And proclaim to a weary world:

We shall not be broken

We are Americans

And we will prevail

 

[A wildfire wipes out hundreds

of homes in Boulder, Colorado]

 

The Year of Constant Chaos

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

The Year of Constant Chaos

 

The Trump Insurrection

and so it began

We jumped into action

and ran ran ran

 

The incredulous king

would not give up his crown

The election results

could not bring him down

 

The renewed virus continued to kill

It seems we swallowed a poison pill

Some fought it while others surrendered

and yes we’re fighting it still

 

We finally left Afghanistan

America’s longest war

After so many years of fighting

we no longer knew what for

 

It was a year so strange indeed

The lead Republican was a Democrat

Remember the saying of Senator Reid:

Hold your noses cuz “I smell a rat”

 

Cops found guilty of committing crimes

Breaking the blue wall of silence

Will this be the year we draw the line

between reasonable force and violence?

 

The ghost of rampant inflation

ran roughshod across the nation

and rampaged much of the planet

It had been so long we could only say dammit!

Let’s punt cuz we don’t understand it

 

China and Russia formed a twisted alliance

Based largely on mutual defiance

of civilized norms and basic rights

Both seemed anxious to start a fight

in Taiwan or Georgia or embattled Ukraine

Vlad the Great began his reign

and Emperor Xi sang the same refrain

Their love of power will drive them insane

 

Fires hurricanes twisters and floods

Whole towns engulfed and buried in mud

Those who claimed a climate change hoax

Find themselves political jokes

 

Democracy threatened in all hemispheres

Dashing our hopes engendering fears

But the people rose and hopes were renewed

In Chile Bolivia Honduras Peru

 

Omicron became the new viral scourge

Strike up the band for another dirge

 

We sent our vision to the end of space

warming the hearts of the human race

 

Winter storms brought a mountain of snow

once again allowing our hopes to grow

The end of the drought may be drawing near

We welcome the promise of a bright new year

 

The Big Bang Paradox

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

"There's no such thing as random chance."  Jack Random

 

The Big Bang Paradox

 

Can we observe our own birth

without existing in two places at once?

 

Can we be the observed and the observer?

 

As the Webb telescope zooms

to the outer reaches of space

where it promises to come within

a whisper of observing the birth

of the known universe and all it entails

the question must be asked:

 

Can that which does not exist in time

observe that which does? 

 

Will time in all its mystery unfold

before the eyes of humankind?

And if it does will we observe

ourselves from behind?

 

Will we come undone in time?

Will we pass through the doors

of perception and conception?

Will we enter a new age

of evolution and comprehension?

Will our minds expand or implode?

 

When we reach beyond the moment

of our existence will we still exist?

 

We have discovered the paradox of being

without knowing or understanding

what follows

 

Boom

 

(for John Lopes)

Chile for Hope

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Chile for Hope

 

In the election of Gabriel Boric

Over the right-wing strongman Kast

The Chilean people raised hope

That they have buried Pinochet at last

 

A rejection of the Bolsonaro clone

The promise of a new constitution

The people were bold and decisive

In tossing the old institutions

 

It is a bold new day in Chile

May it spread across the land

A message of democracy and freedom

Strike up a victorious band

 

The new president must now deliver

On the promises he put forth

Governing by forged consensus

Without the abuse of force

 

The world knows it will not be easy

But there’s no other way ahead

We’ve had enough of strongman oppressors

Let’s try liberation instead

 

Pillars of Shame

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL JUSTICE

 

Pillars of Shame

 

Anguished faces of the fallen

A stern reminder of the purge

A remembrance of the massacre

A memorial to the courage

That is Tiananmen Square

 

It stands as a pillar of shame

Though you remove it from our sight

It sits forever in our minds

Though you prohibit its pronunciation

It is burned into our hearts

Though you have banished

All thoughts and memories

 

You cannot ban the contents

Of hearts and minds

You cannot tell us

What to think

What to feel

What to remember

Or who to mourn

 

We take a vow now and always

To remember all of the genocides

All of the victims of oppression

All of the crimes against humanity

All of the suffering and sacrifice

Until the end of civilized time

 

(The Chinese government takes down

the monument Pillar of Shame at

Hong Kong University.)