Tears for Henry

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Tears for Henry

 

The man who toppled Salvador Allende

The man who championed dictatorship

The man who won a Nobel Peace Prize

For carpet bombing Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam

The man who never saw a strongman he didn’t love

The man who held Nixon’s hand through

The sorry days of Watergate

The man who said we should never let an election

Stand in the way of our interests

The man who was in love with power

The man who tried to forge an empire

 

He died today at the round age of one hundred

One wonders if he negotiated a deal with the reaper

How many lives for one old man?

Shall we shed a tear for Henry?

How many tears did he shed for Chile?

How many for Argentina?

How many tears for Southeast Asia?

How many for the innocents lost?

 

I am sorry for his family

I’m sorry for those who loved him

I’m sorry for those who fell to his diplomatic sword

But I have no tears for Henry

He was and always will be a war criminal

A man without a heart

Arrogance (Netanyahu)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

Arrogance

 

Netanyahu knew beforehand

He knew the plan and the intent

He knew the date of the attack

He possessed the intelligence

Yet he turned away in arrogance

 

Netanyahu must resign

 

Hamas would not dare

Hamas does not possess the capability

Hamas does not do intelligent planning

Hamas is not a threat

 

Not only did he ignore the report

He didn’t bother to take precautions

He failed to monitor activities

He failed to put his forces on alert

He failed to place soldiers on the border

He failed to warn his people

He knew but he did not act

The soldiers were late to the scene

 

Netanyahu must resign

 

It is as if he wanted a war

It is as if he did not care

Like Hamas he wanted war

There were people on the streets

The opposition was growing

It is as if he wanted war to save

his failing government

 

Netanyahu must resign

A World at War

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

A World at War

 

We are nose down heading to a world at war

Is there no one who remembers?

No one who knows the horrors in store

No one to ask: Is it worth fighting for?

 

We all understand who is first to blame

The monsters of war have little shame

They toss the bombs and point away

Hamas and Putin are their names

 

If we do not find a path to peace

(Palestine needs a sovereign state)

There will be nowhere left to meet

(Stop Putin before it’s too late)

 

There is no place in the world for war

Our weapons assure our destruction

Stop this madness at the door

Disarm before the next eruption

 

A union of nations must rise in force

Our weapons must be held at bay

This must happen as a matter of course

If not we count our lives in days

 

The planet faces far greater threats

Without that of annihilation

The earth will hold us to our debts

Far better to claim salvation

 

Room 101 (Orwell's 1984)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Room 101*

 

They know your worst fears

They can see it in your eyes

They are knowers and deep seers

They can smell all your lies

 

Every thought you’ve ever thought

Every dream you’ve ever dreamed

Every treasure you have sought

Every pleasure you have gleaned

 

They will take you in their arms

They will promise you the stars

They’ll protect you from all harm

They will tell you who you are

 

But you must promise in return

To blindly follow without doubt

Clear your mind until you learn

You’ll never know what it’s about

 

Your soul belongs to Big Brother

To this purpose you were born

Just like all and every other

To the state you will be sworn

 

* George Orwell 1984

 

Hostages

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

Hostages

 

Held against their will

Captured by a rabid mob

Down the spine a chill

Innocence is robbed

 

Let my people go!

Israelis cry in vain

Palestine cries back

Feel my people’s pain!

 

Alas they call a truce

Released a chosen few

They gave them what they asked

What else could they do?

 

Palestine and Israel

Are locked in this embrace

A dance of death and destiny

A never-ending chase

 

For peace can never come

To a people locked in hate

As long as we’re indifferent

To either people’s fate

 

Free all political prisoners!

Palestinians and Jews

Free every single one of them

Extend the military truce

 

Argentina

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Argentina

 

Hard times lead to hopelessness

Hopelessness to despair

Desperation spreads everywhere

For better or for worse

 

In Argentina they have thrown the dice

Their government came and went

High inflation and unemployment

Invites a fatal curse

 

We can only hope for men and mice

It turns out for the best

Will democracy survive the test?

Or will it bring another verse?

 

Argentinians do not cry

There will be better times

You suffer though we know not why

Democracy is in reverse

 

It is happening across the globe

We are losing but we will win

Every time we trip and fall

We will rise up once again

 

The Fall of Europe

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

The Fall of Europe

 

What began in the United Kingdom

Like a virus spread to Spain

Italy, Greece and the Netherlands

In the balance lies Ukraine

 

Vladimir plays his poison hand

Deftly if not with grace

His agents in the Netherlands

Put on a nationalist face

 

He is taking Europe one by one

He is picking it apart

Soon the union may be done

As a madman works his art

 

We are trading in our values

To shelter us from fear

A wave of dark migration

We will pay a price in tears

 

When you let a rodent in your house

They will lay your cupboards bare

They’ll take more than you have to give

Too late! They’re everywhere!

 

Thanksgiving

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Thanks

 

Thank you for the gentle rain

It keeps the planet green

It feeds a dry and thirsty world

As it paints a pretty scene

 

Thank you for our many friends

They give our lives such wonder

Without them we would falter

Hard times might take us under

 

We thank you for our families

They tell us who and what we are

They guide us on our journeys

They tell us not to go too far

 

We thank you for your splendor

It soothes us each and every day

It greets us on our chosen paths

It blesses us with grace

 

We thank you for the gift of life

We thank you for the love

We thank you for the majesty

That reigns from up above

 

Sasha Skochilenko

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RUSSIA

Sasha Skochilenko

 

She is an artist and musician

In an authoritarian state

She placed stickers against the war

An act that sealed her fate

 

Seven years in confinement

For speaking out against the war

If she speaks our again

She will get seven more

 

Such is the state of Russian oppression

It can’t abide the least expression

Of an individual point of view

Or conscientious objection

 

One wonders how very fragile

Their authority must be

To be afraid that one person

In a single moment is free

 

To protest a cruel and despicable war

Twenty thousand stand with her

Rest assured there will be more

For our emotions will be stirred

 

Sasha Skochilenko is paying a price

For failure to follow Big Brother’s advice

Her name and her cause must now be known

Until the mighty Kremlin at last atones

 

Jew Haters

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: PREJUDICE

Jew Haters

 

They have a long and storied history

They fueled the flames of World War II

They feed on hate and prejudice

It’s all about them against you

 

Do not indulge the Jew haters

The moment you do they’ll turn

They will label you discord creators

If they have their way you’ll burn

 

They want a distinct type of nation

The ones who worship wealth

The rest can serve in lowly stations

They’ll thrive by fraud and stealth

 

They want you to blame the Other

For all misfortunes that visit you

When really they would not bother

You can always blame the Jews

 

Do not be fooled by their deceptions

See through their cynical lies

If we don’t call it at its inception

They’ll come for us by and by

 

(for Elon Musk)

Numbers

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GAZA

Numbers

 

Numbers are not people

They do not bleed

They do not suffer

Their bones are not brittle

Their bodies do not break

 

Numbers are not people

But like words they tell a story

They tell ten thousand stories in Gaza

There are stories about schools

There are stories about teachers

There are stories about students

There are stories about children

Too young to go to school

 

There are stories about doctors

There are stories about nurses

There are stories about patients

There are stories about loss

 

Picture in your mind ten thousand stories

Hear them in your own voice

Feel them in your heart

Every one of them a tragedy

Every one a mother’s tears

Every one a father’s rage

 

Every one of them a vow of vengeance

Every one a life that won’t be lived

A memory that never fades

A trail of tears forever

 

No numbers are not people

But people become numbers in war

This war must come to an end

For humanity to be restored

 

 

Shame of the Nation

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Shame of the Nation

 

To the shame of this great nation

And the electoral college scheme

We elected a golden-haired buffoon

With the power to end the dream

 

We now stand on the very threshold

Of a brutal authoritarian regime

All because we were confused

Between the party and the team

 

And so we voted for an ego

Who thought he was a mighty king

To the cause of his almightiness

Without pause he would do anything

 

Yes we voted for a senseless monster

And we might vote for him again

Just to witness his unhinged revenge

In the event that he should win

 

Say goodbye to our democracy

Say farewell to all our laws

As everything must now conform

To his divine and vicious cause