Visions

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Visions

 

Visions of ethereal beings

Floating through my mind with care

We cannot bring them down to earth

Reach out and touch them if you dare

 

We are stuck inside an empty room

That has no windows and no doors

We cannot see what fortune looms

But still we’re crying out for more

 

And the ghosts of past keep singing

And the bells inside are ringing

And no one has anything to say

They shrug as I go on my way

Stuck in a room without doors

And the crowd calls out for more

 

I go downtown to find a preacher

Wearing a vest and a tie-dye tee-shirt

I’ll ask and he will have an answer

If not the dance let it be the dancer

 

And the visions dancing through my mind

I lay it down and let it unwind

She says relax, have a drink of wine

Before I know it there’s no more time

No visions when you’re running blind

Just a feeling that we’ll never find

The answers that we left behind

 

And the visions slowly fade away

There’s no one left but we must stay

Goodbye to dreams of yesterday

Relax and watch the spirits play

Power & Obedience

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

 

Power & Obedience

 

“The man of virtuous soul commands not,

nor obeys. Power, like a desolating

pestilence, pollutes whate’er it touches;

and obedience, bane of all genius,

virtue, freedom, truth, makes slaves of men,

and, of the human frame, a mechanized

automation.”  Percy Shelley

 

Thou shall not yield to power

Thou shall not blindly obey

There is no power in heaven or on earth

That commands the heart of virtue

 

Power poisons the soul

Distorts all sense of fairness

Takes a hard and heavy toll

Shatters empathy and care

Destroys the heart of all humanity

Lays a giving cupboard bare

Replaces virtue with mere vanity

Leaving us to blindly stare

 

Obedience without reason

Feeds the worst of humankind

Fosters greed and brutality

Strips the obedient of their pride

Tips the balance of duality

Destroying us from inside

 

Give the power to the wise

Let only virtue rule the day

See through the politician’s lies

Let the righteous light the way

The Good Old Days

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

The Good Old Days

 

In the good old days

We never questioned our parents

We respected our teachers

We obeyed the police

We did as we were told

We said yes, ma’am and no, sir

Please and thank you

We never rocked the boat

 

Then the sixties came and

all hell broke loose

We questioned everything

We demanded honesty and truth

We demanded answers

We saw injustice and fought back

We resisted authority

We broke the rules and made our own

We smoked pot and dropped pills

We refused to blindly follow

 

In the good old days

We were “free white and twenty-one”

Now we are just free

Free to be, free to think and

Free to question what

those good old days

were really like

Paradise in Flames (Maui)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

Paradise in Flames

 

Maui is in flames today

A lush green island getaway

A place where the privileged stay

A paradise where the wealthy play

But there are ordinary people too

What will the many homeless do?

When the hurricane winds rose and blew

They fanned the flames, the fires grew

Of course the tourists got out fast

Of course the homeless get out last

Paradise will never be the same and

All of us must share the blame

Money (for Elon Musk)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WEALTH

Money

 

Those who think about money most

Are those who do not have it

(at least, not enough of it)

 

Those who have the most money

(enough to toss it away on toys

and games and playthings)

Never have to think about it at all

Money grows from the ground

They plant their feet upon

Like potatoes and root vegetables

They hire day labor to water and tend

And the famine never comes

 

One day however the famine will come

And the people with all the money

Will learn to count and recount

And tend to their own piece of land

 

When that day comes

Money will lose its meaning

People with grit and character

Will rise to rule the earth

While the people with money

Will fall and fade away

Joshua Trees

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

Joshua Trees

 

Fire rolls across the desert

The Joshua Trees disappear

An ecosystem forever altered

The realization of our fears

 

Fire cannot burn the sand

These trees have stood a thousand years

Scorched and turned to wasteland

The howling wind is all we hear

 

And will we ever learn

The error of our ways

Let the barren deserts burn

As we approach the end of days

 

We have become destroyers

Of all we know and see

Our past will never know

The future that must be

 

Killing Migrants

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IMMIGRATION

Killing Migrants

 

Killing migrants on the Big River

Killing migrants on the river of hope

Killing migrants for a political stunt

To make America great again

 

We need labor on the fields of plenty

We need workers to pick the crops

We need someone to care for the kids

We need people to tend the gardens

We need someone to trim the hedges

Rake the leaves and mow the lawns

We need workers to build new houses

To shelter and care for the elderly

We need people to fight the fires

And help those caught in the storm

 

Instead of putting them to work

We call names and drown them

As they if they have no value

As if they were not human

 

Nineteen Years (for Navalny)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RUSSIA

Nineteen Years (for Navalny)

 

This is how dictators deal with opposition

Nineteen years in perpetual prison

For founding an independent press

For leading a political party

A sentence that will be renewed

Until the people forget or

Navalny breathes his last breath

 

As Putin does to Navalny

So Trump would do to all opponents

Should he recapture the White House

 

Hillary Clinton: Lock her up!

Hunter Biden: Lock him up!

Mike Pence: Hang him!

Jack Smith: Lock him up!

The Democratic Party: Lock them all up!

 

Navalny gets nineteen years

Nineteen years for speaking out

Nineteen years for democracy

Nineteen years for the truth

Nineteen years for opposing war

 

How many years will Joe Biden get?

How many years will Ari Melber get?

How many years will Gavin Newsom get?

How many years for journalists?

How many years for impartial judges?

How many years for dissident voices?

How many years for protesters?

How many years for you?

How many years for me?

A Hero

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: HISTORY

A Hero

 

At times in our history

  A story marked with war

A person rises from obscurity

  Or from a distant shore

Who calms our insecurities

  Who rises to the test

Who grabs the call to destiny

  The finest and the best

Who honors truth and dignity

  Who guides us on the way

Who grabs us by the collar

  Who knows just what to say

No need to scream or holler

  A gentle touch will do

Who makes us stand much taller

  The false against the true

 

We need such a hero

To save us from ourselves

To lift us from our blindness

To deliver us from hell

 

We need a Joan of Arc

Without the supposition

A Napoleon Bonaparte

Without the bold ambition

 

We need a coalition

United to do good

Without the inhibitions

To do the things we should

 

Children of War

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR

Children of War

 

Everyone suffers the devastation of war

The death toll is too much to bear

But no one endures the suffering more

Than the children caught in its lair

 

Those who will never breathe free air

The soldiers who have sacrificed lives

The mothers and fathers whose tears we share

The husbands who lost their wives

 

Yet all of it pales to the fate of a child

Stolen from a mother’s arms

The heart and soul of innocence defiled

An unbearable depth of harm

 

Do what you must you makers of war

But leave the children alone

Do not breach that forbidden door

Hear the gods of sweet mercy moan

 

Floridian History

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN HISTORY

Floridian History

 

Native Americans were given land grants

West of the Mississippi, north of the Rio Grande

 

Choctaw and Cherokee were awarded free

Passage to Oklahoma where the wind blows

Free and the antelopes run wild

 

General Crook bravely led his troops against

A band of seasoned warriors, women and children

At Sand Creek and Washita River

 

The gallant Colonel Custer withstood a savage

Attack of Lakota and Cheyenne warriors

At the battle of Little Big Horn

 

The importation of African slaves was an

Opportunity enhancement program to prepare

Unskilled labor for the modern economy

 

The razing of Black Tulsa was the result of

Riots and angry mobs objecting to the violence

Suppression measures of law enforcement

And deputized lawful citizens

 

Lynching was the occasional result of over-

Zealous citizens taking the law into their

Own hands

 

The internment of Japanese Americans during

The Great War for freedom was simply for

their own protection

 

Prohibition and the enfranchisement of women

Were the result of wrong thinking and

Unfortunate misinformation

 

The separation of church and state goes

Against the constitution and the word of God

 

Donald Trump won two presidential

Elections by a landslide of law abiding free

White citizens

 

Go North (The Great Migration)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

 

Go North (Northward Migration)

 

There was a time in the long ago

When the young listened to the old

I know it’s hard to believe it so

The old were wise, the young were bold

 

Go west, young man! the old advised

Where the air is clean and fresh

Give up your aged and tattered ties

The future’s in the west

 

So westward bound they rose and went

With dreams of wealth and health in tow

The fortunes saved were often spent

The westward trek was long and slow

 

Now the cry goes out once more

To those who seek a brighter day

The only way to go is north

A place where kids can run and play

 

Go north, young man, where hope survives

Go north to breathe clean air

Go north to keep your dreams alive

Go north if you still dare

 

The Foundations of Peace in Ukraine

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

Foundations of Peace in Ukraine

 

The time must come for diplomacy

The people have suffered enough

Aggression cannot be rewarded yet

The war cannot continue forever

 

The foundations of a lasting peace

Involve concessions by both sides

Guarantees for both nations

Security, sovereignty and dignity

 

A just peace must begin with the acknowledgement

That Russia was and is the aggressor

That Russia violated international law

That Russia engaged in war crimes

That Russia is guilty of the crime of

Aggressive war

 

A just peace must begin with an understanding

That Ukraine posed no threat to Russia

That Ukraine is the victim nation

That every nation has a right to sovereignty

That every nation has a right to independence

That no nation should interfere in the

Sovereign affairs of others

 

Given these essential foundations

A negotiated peace must include

The guaranteed independence of Ukraine

The withdrawal of Russian forces

An end to the occupation of disputed territories

(Crimea and Eastern Ukraine)

Provisions for monitored referendums in

The disputed territories

Security guarantees for Russia against

Acts of aggression by NATO nations

A temporary moratorium on Ukrainian

Membership in NATO

Reparations from Russia to Ukraine

For the destruction and suffering caused

By its aggressive war

Forgiveness of war crimes

Amnesty for war criminals

 

All nations must eventually learn that

An act or aggressive war is a crime against

The community of nations

 

The age of war must end