The World Goes On

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

The World Goes On

 

I am the center of my existence

I live within my sphere

I have no war to contend with

I do not live in constant fear

I have no mortal enemies

I am not cursed with poverty

I do not suffer from disease

I have my own little problems

But I can handle them with ease

I have a sense of right from wrong

I understand the world goes on

 

The war is burning in Israel

The war continues in Ukraine

Global warming is wreaking havoc

From the Philippines to Maine

The cost of living seems impossible

Sometimes it all seems so inane

Synthetic drugs are killing us

Poison air and toxic rain

We all have our share of trouble

Many live in chronic pain

Some have said it all along

But the world carries on

 

Somewhere someone is hungry

Someone is on the run

Somewhere someone is wishing

All the misery was done

Someone has lost his mind

He’ll be purchasing a gun

There is no sense of justice

We will mourn for everyone

But in our hearts we know too well

From scarlet dusk to dawn

The world still goes on

 

Living with Fear

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR

Living with Fear

 

We are but humans

We cannot live in constant fear

We adapt to our conditions

If danger is always everywhere

We alter our perception

We take it from the foreground

And push it to the back

If bombs fill the sky without relief

We keep our heads to the ground

We refuse to hear the sounds

Of bombs exploding, children crying

Whole buildings coming down

 

If suffering is a constant state

We change it to awareness

We are always on alert

We look for safe havens

We search the wastelands for relief

We find food and water

We find refuge from the storm

We live the lives we’re given

As fear becomes the norm

 

We no longer are afraid

And in moments of quietude

As rare and numbered as they may be

We pray that tomorrow it will end

We pray the bombs will not fall

We pray that suffering will mend

Until then we will survive

Until then we’ll stay alive

A Fool's Revenge

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

 

A Fool’s Revenge

 

One thing is clear for all to understand

Israel has played into the enemy’s hand

 

The enemy struck like a thief in the night

Knowing that Israel would show her might

 

Their brutality came in the form of a dare

To strike back hard without mercy or care

 

What the enemy did deserves to be cursed

But Israel’s vengeance may well be worse

 

For the whole world rises in condemnation

Israel’s cruelty goes beyond salvation

 

The world has forgotten the original crime

The path to redemption is a long hard climb

 

The Censure of Rashida Tlaib

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL & PALESTINE

 

The Censure of Rashida Tlaib

 

A curse on both your houses

How dare you use my name

To censure an honest colleague

For not bowing down in shame

 

She spoke her solemn truth

Though you may not like her tone

Few in congress will back her

But her beliefs are not alone

 

She speaks for those who have no voice

She speaks for those you do not hear

Though they are dying by the thousands

You refuse to shed a tear

 

Yes we cry for all of Israel

Should we not cry for Palestine too?

We will not cry for Hamas

Nor will we cry for Netanyahu

 

She speaks out against genocide

No matter what else you’ve heard

I you want to end the endless horror

You should take her at her word

 

Brain Drain in Moscow

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE WAR

Brain Drain in Moscow

 

They are leaving their homeland

They are leaving by the droves

They have lost all sense of loyalty

They have shed a heavy load

 

They do not leave because of courage

They leave because of shame

No longer can they bear the war

That’s being fought in their name

 

They are the brightest of their people

The kind who are not fooled

By the onslaught of propaganda

From the media to the schools

 

They leave behind the multitudes

Who lack the means of escape

Another legacy of their dirty war

Of torture, kidnap and rape

 

If you want to stop the brain drain

You must end your evil ways

End the reign of Vlad the Bad

End the terror in Ukraine

 

The Future of Europe

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DEMOCRACY

The Future of Europe

 

John McCain is turning in his grave

His Grand Old Party is Putin’s slave

What horrors do we have in store?

The republic betrayed to its core

 

If they fail to fund the war in Ukraine

Who will stop the dictator’s train

That runs through Poland to Denmark?

The future of Europe begins to look stark

 

No one wishes to foment war

But we ask what is worth fighting for?

Do we stand for freedom and democracy

Or do we bow down before autocracy?

 

The time has come to raise a voice

We are given a clear, decisive choice

Will we stand with liberty in this fight

Or do we yield knowing it is not right?

 

The only path to a lasting peace

Is a path that rolls from west to east

Put the wannabe emperor in his place

To the great relief of the human race

 

Disproportionate Retribution

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

Disproportionate Retribution

 

Hamas lit the tinder box

Israel fanned the flames

But the tinder lay in Gaza

Long before it had a name

 

We know what you have suffered

As sentient beings we feel your pain

But how much more can we witness

Before your suffering is in vain?

 

We plead for your forgiveness

We beg you for relief

Too many children and their parents

Are buried in their grief

 

Too many innocents have died

To feed the gods of retribution

The cost is rising on both sides

Foreclosing hope for a solution

 

The ayatollah does not care

He wants this war to rage

He wants all of us to be scared

He does not want to turn the page

 

But Netanyahu is the same

He also needs the flames of war

For holy vengeance is his shame

He is a warrior to his core

 

If we want this war to end

We must take it in our hands

On love of peace we must depend

To heal this torn and ancient land  

 

Holy Mission

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR

Holy Mission

 

Your cause may be righteous

But it does not belong to god

You mission may be pure

But it is not god’s mission

Whatever god is or is not

Whosever god receives your prayers

And listens to your suffering

There is no god of war

War is man’s invention

The mission of war belongs to men

The cause of war is man

When you raise the name of god in war

You blaspheme his (or her) holiness

When you appeal to god in war

You diminish the nature of god

Save your prayers for the cause of peace

Pray that no more innocents will die

Pray for an end to suffering

Pray for an end to war

Now and forever

Let it be so

October 7

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

October 7

 

Before October 7

Young people filled the streets of Tel Aviv

Every day and every night

Protesting the anti-democratic laws

And hardline policies

Of their warlord prime minister

 

Before October 7

The people on the streets of Tel Aviv

Were the future of Israel

The young were the people of peace

They believed in fair representation

They believed in equal rights

They believed in an independent

Palestine

 

On October 7

Hamas pointed its deadly force directly

At the young people of Israel

Hamas attacked a gathering of music

And celebration

Hamas killed hundreds of young Israelis

Hamas killed the future of Palestine

 

After October 7

There can be no peace

For as long as the sun will shine

For as long as the rivers flow

For as long as lovers love

For as long as the moon will glow

There can be no peace

 

Across the great divide

I hear your voice saying

There was no other way

But there is always another way

You could have joined the young

Israelis on the streets of protest

You could have joined your voices to theirs

You could have made your voices heard

You could have demanded change

To Netanyahu you could have said:

No! No more

 

After October 7

You have no voice

Hamas has stolen it away

All that remains is endless sorrow

 

Orwell

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR

Orwell

 

We’re expanding the war

To keep the war from expanding

The commander saw no wry humor

No sense of contradiction in his statement

We’re increasing the bombardment

To bring peace to the region

Orwell would be proud

 

The war will end when

We have defeated the enemy

When we have defeated the enemy

The war will come to an end

This is the way of war in the 21^st century

We fight until there’s no one left to fight

We destroy the enemy head to toe

We yank him out by the roots

 

Yes innocent people will die

Yes civilians will suffer mass casualties

In modern warfare there is no alternative

The enemy uses its people as shields

But in the end they will thank us

In the end they will call us liberators

The commander saw no irony

No sense of the absurd in his statements

Until a reporter finally asked:

How can dead people thank you?

How can ghosts greet you as liberators?

 

The commander had no more to say

He turned on his heels and walked away

War is peace, said Orwell from his grave

War is peace and the dead cannot be saved

Strength of Soul

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: THE WAR

Strength of Soul

 

The times demand a strength of soul

To push away these forlorn blues

A way to map the days ahead

Despite the tragic news

 

The war seems like it will not end

The innocent keep dying

A breath of hope we wish to send

To keep ourselves from crying

But words of vengeance do not bend

The bullets keep on flying

It seems this heart will never mend

The cause is mystifying

 

We wonder how we can endure

When every day seems worse

We pray for mercy and a cure

To lift this ancient curse

 

The Right to Kill

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: MASS SHOOTINGS

The Right to Kill

 

What is it with all these madmen?

Does it give them a twisted thrill?

The right to arms has now become

A sordid right to kill

 

They do not care what others think

The world belongs to them

We never asked them what they thought

Who are we to condemn?

 

They kill because they have the right

They kill because they can

They kill because they fear the night

Will no one understand?

 

There are more of them each day

They are arming to the hilt

If you ask them why they will proclaim

They have the right to kill

 

I did not give them weapons

I will not share the blame

But when he pulls the trigger

He does it in our name

The Creature of the Deep

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

The Creature of the Deep

 

There is a creature that dwells in sleep

With tentacles long and many

As many as are necessary

In the moment of deep, deep sleep

Its tentacle reach out in all directions

Taking hold of every sleeping soul

In that instant we are all connected

Each of us knows what every other thinks

Each of us feels what every other feels

Each of us understands we are one

 

The Israeli feels what the Palestinian feels

The Russian sees what the Ukrainian sees

The Islamist understands the Hindi

The Christian understands the Buddhist

The deist understands the atheist

The saint understands the bigot

Each of us understands the other

 

When we are in that deep cave of sleep

We are naked and everywhere

When we climb out of that deep cave

We clothe ourselves with prejudice

We clothe ourselves with bigotry and hate

We don the cloth of closed minds

That we may thrive among our people

 

Yet at moments of silent clarity

When all is quiet in the soul

We remember the creature of the deep

We remember that instant of knowing

We remember that we are one with all

And all are one within