Staring Down the Barrel (for Ukraine)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

Staring Down the Barrel

 

We knew what were in for

We were always on the run

We were heading for the exit

Underneath a setting sun

Like a woman on a tight rope

One wrong step and we’re done

We were staring down the barrel

of a gun

 

We were desperate and afraid

Like a child that has no one

We were carrying a load

That must have weighed a ton

We were running short on luck

No one lost and no one won

We were staring down the barrel

of a gun

 

When we awakened in the morning

We were naked and alone

All our friends and trusted allies

Had given up and gone home

We were all out of trying

We were down and we were done

We were staring down the barrel

of a gun

 

(for Ukraine)

Days of Freedom

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Days of Freedom

 

There was a time we walked the streets

Free and easy like a charm

No one could tell us where to go

No one could do us any harm

Now they stop us everywhere

To rob us of our peace

To steal away our memories

Of the days when we were free

 

Like a lover from our dreams

Like a hero in a song

The days of freedom linger

We will miss her when she’s gone

 

We will take a vow of memory

A promise never to forget

The days when we were free

The nights when we first met

We held on for our lives

Like we were riders on a jet

They sang of us in Singapore

It rang across the sea

Always we’ll remember

The days when we were free

 

Like a lover in a dream

Like a hero in a song

The days of freedom linger

We will miss her when she’s gone

 

(for Democracy in Hong Kong)

 

The Storming of the People's House

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Storming of the People’s House

 

The people of Paris stormed the Bastille

14 July 1789 to overthrow a despotic

government. A monarchy, an aristocracy,

hereditary succession, a royal king.

 

In Washington the people stormed congress

6 January 2021 to overthrow an elected

president, to install a monarchy, hereditary

succession, an aristocratic king. 

 

The storming of the Bastille toppled the

king, introduced the guillotine and begat

the Reign of Terror, a river of blood that

swallowed its leader: Maximilien

Robespierre.

 

The storming of the people’s house fell

short of its goal, dozens of instigators

captured and jailed while its leader went

free, opening the door to a period of

uncertainty and the promise of revenge.

 

The storming of the Bastille was a turning

point in history; one by one the monarchs

fell, replaced by elected governments,

representative democracies that shined

from Europe to across the sea. 

 

The storming of the people’s house is an

unfinished story: a defense of democracy

or its tragic fall? A period of unrest or a

reign of terror? For better or for worse,

let the people decide. 

 

Tears of a Tyrant

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: PUTIN

Tears of a Tyrant

 

Vlad is not the actor

He believes himself to be

When he cries his tyrant tears

The honest truth is plain to see

 

He is a brutal madman

Who started a war of choice

Do not believe his feigned sorrow

That subtle quiver in his voice

 

Ukraine has an innate right

To strike back against the invader

If Vlad were Mother Russia

All decent folks would hate her

 

Stop what you are doing

The people know and understand

The show that you are putting on

Is the act of a desperate man

 

2024

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

2024

 

This is the year we get to choose

Between the genuine and fake news

 

This is the year you’ll never know

Who’s on the bench and who’s in the show

 

This is the year we bury the past

And find out how long the world can last

 

This is the year the planet will burn

Unless the industrialized nations learn

 

This is the year we turn it around

And find ourselves on higher ground

 

This is the year of greater knowledge

When all our kids advance to college

 

This is the year the top of the ladder

Tips and falls with a helluva splatter

 

This is the year it all goes down

We build our walls to protect our town

 

This is the year we’ll all remember

From January to late December

 

The Great China Freeze

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

The Great China Freeze

 

They’re burning coal in China

To survive the winter freeze

They are poisoning the very air

That their people must breathe

It seems the leaders do not care

It is something they believe

If a million people die today

For the benefit of the state

Mark a path and show the way

They will call it the way of fate

 

But the world must turn this path around

We must find a better road

A path that is reachable and sound

That seeks to lighten every load

 

We can’t continue fighting wars

We know where that road leads

A rush to shut disaster’s doors

We all suffer, we all bleed

 

Let’s work together for a change

That works for all our nations

We know it seems a little strange

But its promise is salvation

 

Hypocrisy: Gaza & Ukraine

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Hypocrisy: Gaza & Ukraine

 

If you condemn the Israelis

For their relentless attack on

Schools and hospitals in Gaza

On the mass destruction

On the many civilians slain

But fall silent on the bombing

By the Russians in Ukraine

Hypocrisy

 

If your tears flow and your anger rages

At the plight of the Palestinians

After months of this campaign

But after years of aggression

In the battle for Ukraine

All your anger is spent

All you outrage is restrained

Hypocrisy

 

If you fail to acknowledge

That Hamas landed the first blow

In an act so boldly evil

The reaction was foreknown

Yet you allow for Putin’s actions

With that’s the way the river flows

Hypocrisy

 

End the war in Gaza

Support Ukraine

Stop Netanyahu

End Putin’s reign

Orban the Horrible

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Orban the Horrible

 

Something is rotten in Budapest

Europe is going insane

NATO is doing the best it can

Let’s trade Hungary for Ukraine

 

Ever since Orban ascended

We have suffered from his reign

Now he stands in the way of progress

Let’s trade Hungary for Ukraine

 

The European Union

Must stand for something plain

The basic right of democracy

Let’s trade Hungary for Ukraine

 

Orban is a Putin ally

His mark on the map is stained

Serve notice to every tyrant

Trade Hungary for Ukraine

 

We hold nothing against the people

Condemnation we must refrain

Reclaim you democratic ways or

Trade Hungary for Ukraine

 

Killing Journalists (in Gaza)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

Killing Journalists

 

He had to cover Gaza

How could he not?

Knowing he would risk it all

If ever he was caught

Trying hard to do his job

Telling truth to power

Who else if not the journalist?

Who rises in this hour?

A genocide unfolding

What more can be said?

To feed the daily knowing

How many more are dead?

 

The journalist is essential

To tell the story well

Netanyahu has turned Gaza

Into a Palestinian hell

If we want to set it right

Our reporters must be free

To do their work unhindered

Let the journalists be

 

A Modern Mussolini

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

A Modern Mussolini

 

He sounds a lot like Hitler

But he is not the same

Hitler was an orator

Who had a feel for art

The Don is a pretender

Whose speeches fall apart

He’s more like Mussolini

The Italiano beast

They both hold their girth

And hailed from the east

The original fascista

As everybody knows

Wherever Hitler points

Mussolini goes

Like Vlad and the Don

We know who’s on top

If Vlad is the chief

The Don is the cop

He’ll do Putin’s bidding

Without question or doubt

In the end he’ll ask Vlad:

Can you help a poor boy out?

He’s a modern Mussolini

But he never read the story

If he had he would know

The end is pretty gory

 

No Christmas (on Christmas Day)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

No Christmas

 

In the little town of Bethlehem

Where a child was given birth

There is no prayer or celebration

There is no peace on earth

 

There will be no Christmas singing

No sounds of Christmas cheer

No bells of joy are ringing

Our comfort changed to fear

 

We may never be the same

At least that’s how it feels

It seems to me an awful shame

To lift the Christmas shield

 

For Christmas is for everyone

No matter their beliefs

A time to put down our guns

A time to breathe relief

 

The Love (on Christmas)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: PEACE

The Love

 

Peace across the valley

Christmas bells are ringing

Waves of Christmas revelry

Boys and girls are singing

 

Where is the love that once we knew?

So freely given this time of year?

Where is the love that seemed so true?

Where is the Christmas cheer?

 

As children we loved everyone

Over time we learned to hate

Every daughter and every son

Was welcomed as our mate

 

Where is the love that grew on trees?

It seems so very far away

Where is the hand we gave for free?

Lost somehow along the way

 

We need to find the love again

To give the world new birth

To find the kindness deep within

For peace on planet earth

 

Mass Murder in Bohemia

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Mass Murder in Bohemia

 

The ratatatat of murder

Splits the scene in the city of bridges

City of Kafka, Dubcek and Havel

Destroying the Christmas calm

Shattering the peace

A lone gunman with a submachine gun

A weapon meant for war

A killer of many humans

A reaper of death in numbers

 

He opened fire on his fellow students

As if it was a war zone

As if it was Gaza or Bakhmut

As if he sought revenge for the killing

Of his people, his friends, his family

But he was not a soldier

He was the killer of his father

He was the killer of his friends

As if he had friends

But a mass murderer has no friends

He traded them for weapons

He bartered them for blood

 

To those who thought this could not

Happen in Europe

That only foreign terrorists could strike

At the heart of European peace

That Europeans would not kill their own

In numbers greater than one

You were wrong

 

Prague is a victim of the American disease

The unfettered right to carry arms

The availability of killing machines

Now Bohemia must decide how many

Lives the right to arms is worth

Weapons of war

Armor piercing bullets

Weapons of mass destruction

How many lives are they worth?