The Swedish Equation

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

The Swedish Equation

 

Neutrality endured for two hundred years

It somehow seemed appropriate

The world needed a neutral setting

For negotiations and diplomacy

Sweden saw no need for militarization

For as long as the doctrine held

 

Putin pushed the boundary

Crossed the line with aggressive war

Posed a threat in blood and terror

So neutrality is no more

 

After Finland, so goes Sweden

Putin altered all equations

The Russian empire is on hold

NATO adds two more nations

Backward March

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Backward March

 

The backward march to darker times

When white men held all power

Like digging a hole to make a climb

Or knocking down the tallest towers

 

The way of darkness claims the light

But the message is not divine

The evil doers proclaim the right

But their water does not change to wine

 

They lead us boldly to a certain past

When the order of things was clear

But the old days were not meant to last

Though some may hold them dear

 

We will endure these brutal days

When human rights were in retreat

Somehow someday we’ll find a way

To march to a forward beat

Floods

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

Floods

 

Disastrous floods from Vermont to Spain

I remember a time when we prayed for rain

Now we pray that the rain will cease

A planet in the throes of a strange disease

 

California suffered catastrophic drought

A summer of wildfires erased all doubt

Now the temperature rises after heavy rain

How this world ends is becoming plain

 

Shame on all those who denied the change

By now we all know you were deranged

You loved your profits far too much

On global warming you were out of touch

 

So where can we go to escape the wrath?

Too late to alter our unfortunate path

Too late for humanity to grow and thrive

Though the earth will endure and survive

 

Terrorist Nations

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

Terrorist Nations

 

They cannot defeat the Ukrainian military

So they terrorize the civilian population

With indiscriminate bombing

Missiles rip into apartment buildings

Cluster bombs in residential areas

Kidnapping Ukrainian kids for reprogramming

Morbid experiments in reconditioning

They don’t care who dies or suffers

Their mission is to terrorize

When you’re in a war of attrition

Your goal is utter submission

 

There is no standard for their abuse

No laws that limit their actions

No terrorist weapons they will not use

No fear of the world’s reactions

 

We must find a way to end this reign

That threatens all of civilization

To halt a leader who’s gone insane

The clear solution is isolation

For freedom and justice in Ukraine

For all rogue and terrorist nations

 

Kill the Tweet

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

Kill the Tweet

 

No one should ever have that much money

That, my friend, is a stone-cold fact

But when you’ve alienated everyone

There’s no one that will have your back

 

You’ve run afoul so many times

You’ve lost the music and the beat

So now before we run out of rhymes

The time has come to kill the tweet

 

You’ve fueled the fires of evil men

You and mindfulness will never meet

There’s nothing left for you to defend

The time has come to kill the tweet

 

Your wealth has treated you very badly

I’d hate to see you on the street

Though sycophants claim to love you madly

The time has come to kill the tweet

 

If Nicola Tesla were still alive

He’d sue you to take back his name

While your money making still may thrive

If you had a conscience you’d live in shame

 

The Russian Candidate(s)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Russian Candidate

 

The war in Ukraine comes to America

In the next campaign

Trump and his loyal allies

Are the Putin candidates

The Russian candidates

The turncoat candidates

They will surrender Ukraine and

Call it peace

They will give Putin a free pass

To invade his neighbors

To reclaim the Soviet empire

To expand its oppressive reach

To rebuild the Iron Curtain

Sweden, Poland, the Czech Republic

Slovakia, Romania, Hungary beware

 

They will call it justice

They will call it retribution

They will call it restoring balance

It will be none of these

The eventual truth will unfold

Like a scroll from the heavens

Donald Trump is a Russian asset

Putin holds his markers

Those who walk with him

Walk hand in hand to hell

Institutionalized Hate

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Institutionalized Hate

 

Bebe’s childhood must have been tough

To become so angry and so bent

Failing to see that enough is enough

To believe vengeance is heaven sent

 

When your answer to violence is violent

When you institutionalize hate

When the voice of reason goes silent silent

Perpetual war is your fate

 

When their children die mothers shed tears

The reasons no longer matter

Israel or Gaza their loved ones are dear

Their hopes and dreams are shattered

 

When your answer to violence is violence

When you institutionalize hate

When the voices of peace fall silent silent

Forever at war is your fate

 

American Killers

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GUN CONTROL

American Killers

 

Who buys an AR-15 and

Fifty rounds of ammunition?

American Killers

 

Who drives 300 miles

To kill brown people in Texas?

American Killers

 

Who sprays a nightclub with bullets

Because they can’t get a date?

American Killers

 

Who amasses an arsenal of weapons

To attack a synagogue or church?

American Killers

 

Who wakes up in the morning

And says: Today is a good day to kill?

American Killers

 

Who protects the right of the mentally

Deranged to possess weapons

Of mass destruction?

American Killers

 

Only in America does this happen

Because the same court that decided

There is no right to vote

That corporations have the rights of citizens

That elections can be sold to

The highest bidder

Decided that individuals have the right

To bear arms without regard

To well-regulated militias

 

Who enables mass murder?

Politicians and the Supreme Court

American Killers

 

The Revolutionary War

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Revolutionary War

 

The American Revolution 1776

A war for independence

The colonists took their licks

But they fought back like lions

A righteous cause was theirs

When France became our allies

‘Twas too much for England to bear

 

They were mostly farmers and tradesmen

Who had no real taste for war

But they fought because they believed

In liberty to the very core

When the English brought their best

And the rebels asked for more

They brought the Hessian mercenaries

All ties of blood were torn

 

Franklin, Paine and Jefferson

Stood with the rabble crowd

The monarchy was overthrown

Democracy stood proud

 

What is lost in this proud story

Are the natives and the blacks

The blacks remained in slavery

The natives were pushed back

 

Salutation

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Salutation (July 4^th)

 

If you love this nation

Understand what she was founded on

The times that try men’s souls

The courage of the working class

The right to self-governance

The right to free expression

The right to worship as you will

Freedom from persecution

Equal justice under the law

Freedom from unjust authority

The right to vote and be counted

The right to engage in peaceful protest

The right to individuality

 

The nation was founded on ideals

Principles of the enlightened

The age of dignity and reason

The nation was born to overcome

The prejudice of individual men

The indignity to women and minorities

America was not meant to embrace them

 

If you love this nation

Salute her greatness, not her flaws

Salute her promise, not her failings

If you love this nation

Help her to achieve the dream

 

France on Fire

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

France on Fire

 

The killing of Nahel

The ghost of Algiers

A legacy of injustice and inequality

beneath the surface of content

The smoldering ashes of history

The spark of a young man’s death

Five days of unrest (and counting)

Five nights of burning rage

 

This is far more than one tragic death

This the promise of a nation broken

This is poverty and opportunity denied

This is minorities betrayed

 

He was only seventeen

Killed in the Paris suburb of Nantere

A traffic stop gone horribly wrong

The kid was too afraid to stop

Young, dark-skinned and poor

A resume for a tragic end

It was not the first time

It will not be the last

 

The Death of Civil Rights

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: JUSTICE

The Death of Civil Rights

 

From the march across the Pettus bridge

To the martyrdom of the King

From the passage of Voting Rights

To the cry: Let Freedom Ring!

 

It is time to mourn her passing

The fading of the light

No longer everlasting

The death of civil rights

 

The line of progress broken

The dream is in retreat

The betrayal goes unspoken

The circle incomplete

 

America must hang her head

Embarrassment and shame

The end of our great promise

Delivered in our name

 

It is time to mourn her passing

The dying of the light

No longer everlasting

The death of civil rights

 

(Supreme Court ends Affirmative Action)

Mobilizing Rage

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Mobilizing Rage

 

They’re mounting behind a sea of rage

Across the European continent

The blame seekers are out in force

In Slovakia, Germany and Austria

In Hungary, Turkey and more:

 

If you’ve had enough of this suffering

Join the rabble of rabid rage

Strip away our rights and liberties

Let us boldly march as slaves

Rule over us with an iron fist

Let us live like rats in a cage

Democracy has played its hand

Bring on the fascist age!

 

We know who is behind it all

The man behind the curtain

He answers not to any call

Of that you can be certain

Serbia Leads

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Serbia Leads

 

Faced with mass casualty gun violence

Serbia chose to take action

No false tears and deliberations

They won’t stop short of satisfaction

 

A two-year ban on gun sales

Universal background checks

Mandatory prison sentences

Immediately take effect

 

Serbia has done what we could not do

To save their people from gun violence

When the citizens rose to demand change

They broke the code of silence

 

Bless the Serbian government

For doing what republics should do

While others only pay lip service

The Serbians listened to truth