Navalny!

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RUSSIA

Navalny!

 

Alexei Navalny is dead

At the age of forty-seven

In the prime of life

Dead in an arctic gulag

Dead of unknown causes

Dead of voicing dissent

Dead of rising to prominence

Dead of speaking eloquently

Dead of exposing corruption

Dead of opposing oppression

Dead of defying Vladimir Putin

 

We know what killed Navalny

We know who was behind it

On the eve of a mock election

We know who killed Navalny

And the tears of Mother Russia

Rain down across the land

And the tears of Russian mothers

Join the tears of Russian soldiers

And the rivers rise in sorrow

 

Here was a man who knew

Here was a man who towered

Here was a man who spoke out

When so many others fell silent

Here was a man who gave his life

So that others might live free

 

Navalny!

 

Let his name outlive his tormentors

Let his dream live on forever

Rafah (Never-ending War)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

Rafah

 

So begins the siege of Rafah

As millions of innocents flee

But no one knows where they will go

A sea of refugees

 

The slaughter is unspeakable

The destruction is complete

Will anyone be spared

The stench of this defeat?

 

This war has cost too many lives

Or cast them into hell

Never will it be forgot

Palestinians remember well

 

The siege of Rafah will go on

This war defies an end

The bloodshed and the misery

This hatred will not mend

 

Until the darkness lifts

Until their hearts will bend

The horrors born of Rafah

Will plead for more revenge

 

Both sides will take a vow

To fight forever more

All of Palestine and Israel

The never-ending war

A Vote for War

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Antiwar Vote

 

Do not be fooled into thinking that

A vote for Trump is a vote for peace

For while Trump would surrender Ukraine

War would envelop the Middle East

 

He has no knowledge of our alliances

On which our security depends

Netanyahu is sworn to war forever

And he is Trump’s sworn friend

 

A vote for Trump is a vote for Vlad

A vote for Vlad is a vote for war

All of Europe trembles at the thought

Of the horrors that lie in store

 

After Russia conquers Ukraine

At a cost of a million lives

He will take aim at Sweden

And Poland may not survive

 

So if you wish to vote for peace

Know well who you’re voting for

A vote for Trump is a vote for Putin

A vote for Putin is a vote for war

 

Democracy under Fire

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Democracy under Fire

 

There can be no democracy

when the people are under the gun

You cannot have fair elections

when you’re allowed to kill the opposition

 

In El Salvador the people have

embraced a brutal dictatorship

In Pakistan abuse of justice has

altered the balance of power

In Hungary the free press and lawful

opposition have been banned

In Turkey they crush the forces of

democracy by all means necessary

In Russia they imprison dissidents

and hold mock elections

In Afghanistan and Iran there is

only one voice

In America democracy balances

on the head of a pin

 

A raging fire of brutality spreads

Flames fanned by criminal enterprise

Roaming gangs of rapists and killers

The promise of order without law

The desperation of common people

The desire for a simple life

 

Democracy cannot exist where lives

are in constant upheaval

Where everything you have can

be taken away by criminals

Where the fundamental needs of

the people are denied

 

And yet democracy is the only

answer to the usurpation of power

Only democracy can defeat lawlessness

Only democracy can provide for the

needs of the people

 

When it is gone you will learn

When it is gone you will understand

how difficult it is to get it back again

 

The Putin Caucus

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Putin Caucus

 

It ain’t about the border

This is where the fight begins

Will Republicans find their courage

Or will the Putin Caucus win?

 

Ukraine is in the balance

Taiwan is nervous too

If the Putin Party gets their way

All free nations lose

 

The Israeli siege continues

There is no problem there

Bebe is the Donald’s friend

And Putin doesn’t care

 

We warned you this would happen

It’s as clear as it could be

The Donald serves Vladimir

Like a puppet on his knee

 

The writing is on the wall

It’s as predictable as rain

The only cause they serve today

Is cutting funding for Ukraine

 

America First

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

America First

 

There are those in the party of Lincoln *

Who loudly proclaim America First!

But when it comes to serving the nation

Their record could hardly be worse

 

Given a choice to protect the border

At the cost of supporting Ukraine

They turn their back on both causes

Like trading the wheat for the grain

 

The truth has now become clear

It’s not America first at all

For in the balance of global relations

Russia’s rise is America’s fall

 

We have witnessed a dark infiltration

Of our hallowed congressional halls

The subversion of our great nation

As support for our ally stalls

 

Who butters your bread Mister Johnson? **

Who tells you what you must do?

Do you know to whom he answers?

And whether his cause is true?

 

* Pre Civil War Republicans

** Speaker of the House

Supreme Wisdom

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: SUPREME COURT

Supreme Wisdom

 

What is an insurrection?

First we must decide

Based on precedent however meager

What is what?

For What means many things to many people

What can stand alone or seek the company of others

What can be a verb

He did what to whom?

What can be a noun

His name is what?

What is what you call him

(only if he’s drunk)

If we survive the test of What

We move on to Is

Here we find precedent

A former president once said:

It depends on what Is is

Which raises the question of Isis

Is is Isis? What was she?

What is she? And how does she apply?

That leads us to An

As opposed to A

For An must always oppose A

It is written in the constitution

The constitution of grammar

A shall precede a noun beginning with a consonant

An shall precede a noun beginning with a vowel

With few exceptions

Should we endure this treacherous journey

Fraught with unforeseen pitfalls and

Duplicitous encounters

We arrive with due caution at the very

Heart of the matter: Insurrection

Quite frankly: We know it when we see it

Case closed!

Ceasefire

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

Ceasefire

 

The time has come

to raise our voices all in one

This massacre must end

This onslaught must be done

On this our trust depends:

Ceasefire in Gaza now

 

Netanyahu must go

A lasting peace cannot be found

If nothing else we know

When Netanyahu is around

The hatred only grows

And shakes the hallowed ground

Not another blow:

Ceasefire in Gaza now

 

Two states born of one

It is the only way

The terrorists are stunned

Let’s bow our heads and pray

Hamas is on the run

Let it be today

This battle has been won

Ceasefire in Gaza now

 

Man of Sin

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: PROPHECY

Man of Sin

 

Voices of the ancients warned

There would rise among the people

A man of sin

He would claim to be the chosen

Above and beyond the law

His rise would be marked in red

Seven signs of the apocalypse

The scourge of pestilence

Hurricanes and thunder

A shaking of the earth

A sky of fire and dismal smoke

Winds of rage and horror

The heart of vengeance

Wars and rumors

Destruction and devastation

A pall cast over the earth

In the days of final reckoning

He will place himself above all others

Above the generals and ministers

Above the saints and sinners

Above the kings and emperors

Above the sun

Above the one

And he shall be revealed:

The man of Sin

 

Fairness

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Fairness

 

Life is not fair

We say it so often we believe it

We believe it so well we aggrieve it

The stars turned against me

My enemies joined forces

The D.A. and the media

The judges and the elite

The system and the deep state

They won’t let me have my way

It’s so unfair…

 

Well sometimes life is unfair

Things happen that shouldn’t

Children die in accidents

Mothers die giving birth

Wars and disasters

Hurricanes and floods

 

And yet most of the time

(maybe nine out of ten)

Life is fair

Good things happen to good people

Loving couples find each other

A child is born to caring parents

Guilty people are found guilty

Innocent people go free

The right person is elected president

Problems are solved

People work together

Teachers teach children

Music and literature

Love and understanding

 

Life is mostly fair

When it is not take heart

We will endure

And fairness will return

Like sunlight at dawn

 

Idiot Wind

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

Idiot Wind *

 

We know that Netanyahu

Is a force against democracy

A voice for vengeance

A proponent of endless war

A perpetrator of genocide

But if you believe that Israeli forces

Dug the tunnels, planned and executed

The massacres of October 7^th

A brutal execution of their own people

The idiot wind is blowing

Through the vacuum of your mind

There is no end to fantasies

That prejudice can find

 

We know that Netanyahu failed

Failed to protect his people

He knew what was about to happen and

Failed to respond in time

We know that he is guilty of

Crimes against humanity

Crimes against civilization

Mass destruction and reckless

Disregard for innocent life

But if you believe the Israelis

Have no cause for rage and revenge

A rage founded in antiquity

A rage recorded for all time

The idiot wind is blowing

Through the missives of your kind

Through eyes that have been

Rendered selectively blind

 

* A song by Bob Dylan

 

Blind Vengeance

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

Blind Vengeance

 

People of Israel

Do you know the crimes

committed in your name?

 

What began as self defense

surrendered that rationale

when Netanyahu decided civilians

were subject to extermination

 

People of Israel

Have you seen the destruction

delivered in your name?

 

Hospitals are not hiding enemies

Schools are not training sites

An ambulance is not a target

Children are not expendable

Palestinians are not Hamas

Mothers are not soldiers

 

People of Israel

Do you know the blood your

leaders are spilling in your name?

 

I am not a terrorist apologist

I lament the unconscionable act

that unleashed this chain of horror

but just retribution has turned

into blind and brutal vengeance

 

People of Israel

I believe in your humanity

Help us to help your nation

return to the path of peace