Separation (Church and State)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Separation

 

The separation of church and state

Is a wall that should not be broken

Of the horrors we might contemplate

This one should be unspoken

 

The wonders of hypocrisy

They claim to love our nation best

Betray our young democracy

By failing a fundamental test

 

Religion has no proper place

In the governance of a nation

To human rights a plain disgrace

Like sanctified discrimination

 

For it has never ever been as clear

As it is on this fair day

The collapse of principle we fear

Has led us far astray

 

Keep whatever faith you will

It is not for me to say

Honor the creed thou shall not kill

And worship as you may

 

The Irony

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Irony

 

A change in the Oval Office promises

To bring a purge of the government

A purge of the FBI

A purge of the people’s house

A purge of the electorate

A purge of American citizenship

Just like the Red Scare of the fifties

 

The irony is:

This time the Reds will be doing the purge

This time the litmus test requires

An alliance to the Beast of the East

A betrayal of NATO

The abandonment of Ukraine

 

They call it America first

But it is Russia calling the shots

They call national patriotism

But it is loyalty to an adversary

They call it the voice of the people

But the people fall silent

In shock and awe

 

What have we done?

How can we make amends?

 

It is far easier to lose a democracy

Than it is to gain it back

 

Taiwan Quake

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CATASTROPHES

Taiwan Quake

 

We have so many manmade tragedies

We forget that nature has her own

The earth will quake, the wind will moan

The sea will rise, we will atone

And they will rouse our sympathies

Though they are far from home

 

In the shadow of a fearful beast

Taiwan suffers disproportionately

Though they endure it graciously

With modesty and dignity

Their fear looks to the east

Across the China Sea

 

A quake has hit them hard

They must turn to us for aide

Though their character is staid

Reparations must be made

We must hold them in our regard

Until the terror fades

 

At times like this we will remember

We are all in this together

Like birds of a certain feather

Through every kind of weather

From the first of January to December

To help is our endeavor

 

Moral Dilemma

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

Moral Dilemma

 

I believe in my bones conscription is wrong

As an army of conscripts is weak

I believe that the cause of Ukraine is strong

But the prospect grows dimmer to bleak

 

It is a dilemma that cannot be unwound

They are fighting a brutal beast

Yet they stand on shaky moral ground

Which path is offensive the least?

 

There must be a way to defeat this foe

Without becoming what we detest

The price for aggressive war must grow

In unity from the east to the west

 

The affront of Russia must never prevail

This evil must be stopped in its tracks

The way of war must be derailed

An end to all imperialist attacks

 

Until then we live in compromise

Until then these wars will not end

Until this world becomes more wise

Our moral foundations must bend

 

The Greatness of the Don

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Greatness of the Don

 

No one but the Don

Could have proven with such certainty

The abject failure of public education

 

No one but the Don

The Don and only the Don

Could have demonstrated the failure

Of representative democracy

 

No one but the Don

A genius in his own mind

Could have proven beyond doubt

The ignorance of the masses

 

We may point the finger of blame

At a myriad of random factors

A convergence of the planets

An alignment of the stars

The flaws of a two-party system

The folly of the Electoral College

The corruption of the body politick

A spell of mass delusion

Yet the truth remains:

No one but the Don could have

Brought the message home

 

The choice we now face is whether

To confirm the greatness of the Don

Or return to the greatness of America:

The ideal, the hope, the dream

 

New Bohemia

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

New Bohemia

 

Bohemia is not a place in Europe

Bohemia is a state of mind

A place where art and artists reign

Where no endeavor is more valued

Than the creation of a work of art

Where thoughts appear in song

Where dance is in the wind

Where each street is a poem

And every building a sculpture

 

Bohemia is a place in the heart

Where no one is afraid to speak

And everyone agrees: Freedom is

As necessary as food, air and water

Where the needs of all are tended to

Where the ambitions of politicians

Are set aside like yesterday’s news

 

Bohemia is a place of growing

Where a child is taught to follow dreams

Where every person has a purpose

Where no dream is too small

Where no vision is too large

Where the struggle burns within

The search for truth and meaning

The fulfillment of the soul

 

Bohemia is not a place in Europe

It is a state of mind

Where every individual is driven

To be creative and kind

The Warlord of Israel

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

The Warlord of Israel

 

He is the saboteur of war

Taunting all his foes

Betraying his alliances

Disseminating woe

 

A constant state of war is

All that this man knows

With every act of cruelty

The bloodshed only grows

 

Disproportionate retribution

Strikes beyond the border

The warlord of Israel

Brings chaos and disorder

 

The man will not be satisfied

Until the world’s on fire

A never-ending state of war

His ultimate desire

 

Take from him his weapons

Swipe away his power

Cast him to the winds of war

And praise his final hour

 

The Crimes of Netanyahu

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

The Crimes of Netanyahu

 

The crimes against humanity

Continue without pause

Netanyahu flicks his thumb at us

In defiance of all laws

 

Another thousand dead

Another week of terror

Netanyahu shrugs his shoulders

As if it was random error

 

The war continues on

Until his anger is abated

How many more must die

Before his rage is satiated?

 

We must find another way

And we must find it yesterday

For what Hamas started

Future generations will pay

 

For now there is no answer

There is only blood and pain

The violence will continue

Like a cruel and endless chain

 

Enemies

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Enemies

 

Our enemies wear many faces

Some poison our water and air

Some despise the darker races

Nearly all pretend they care

 

Netanyahu is an enemy of peace

Elon Musk is an enemy of truth

Vladimir Putin is a villainous beast

We’ll decide in the voting booth

 

There are many who have sold their souls

For some money or a piece of the action

There are many who play lesser roles

Who charade as an angry faction

 

To defeat our true enemies all

We must recognize who they are

One by one we must see them fall

To lift up our virtuous star

The Way it Was

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: EQUALITY

The Way it Was

 

I remember when there were no gays

High school kids showered together

There was no other way

 

I remember when the minorities

The blacks and browns and Asians

Lived in their own neighborhoods

Went to the same schools

They weren’t the best neighborhoods

They were broken down houses

And secondhand schools

But as far as we knew

(and as far as we know today)

They liked it that way

 

I remember when the boys got all the glory

The girls were their cheerleaders

Boys ran for president

Girls were secretaries

Men got bigger paychecks

Women were their servants

Men did the “hard” jobs

Women ran the home

Men did all the talking

Women didn’t have much to say

For all we knew and know

They liked it that way

 

I remember when it was cool to say

I’m free white and twenty-one

We were the chosen ones

We were the privileged ones

The world revolved around us

And that was okay

As far as we knew and know

We all like it that way

 

Contrasts (Light and Darkness)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Contrasts

 

How can we breathe the fresh clean air

When we know what is happening elsewhere?

In Haiti there is no order

In Nicaragua and Mexico

There is no border

 

How can we send our children to school

To teach and embrace the golden rule?

When schools in Kiev are underground

When there is no school in Gaza

In Yemen the schools left town

 

How can we enjoy our fresh cooked meals

When elsewhere there is starvation?

When hungry children go to sleep

There is no grain, there is no meat

When what you sow is what you reap

When rescue workers are killed or beat

 

How can we live in peace when

Around the world there is only war?

We fight for greed and vengeance

When men in power want only more

When more is never ever enough

When the wealthy consume the poor

 

How can we go on without care

With killing and hardship everywhere

How can we live our happy lives

When so many live in despair?

When we know we are no better than

When we know it is not fair?

 

The Children of Gaza

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

The Children of Gaza

 

The act of genocide

Can no longer be denied

The death and destruction

Cuts deep inside

 

When will we make an end?

On what does it depend?

A policy of vengeance

We can no longer defend

 

There are too many dead

Too many without bread

And none of us believe

A word Netanyahu said

 

We must end our support

Take the murderers to court

Put a stop to the killing

Playing out like a sport

 

The children are dying

Their mothers are crying

And all we can do

Is to say we are trying

 

End the war!

End the occupation!

Now!

 

Indentured Servitude

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Indentured Servitude (India)

 

It’s a fine line between slavery

And indentured servitude

For the sugar workers of India

Servitude may be worse

Child labor is commonplace

Arranged marriage and hysterectomy

Keeps the workers in the fields

Where they labor endless hours

Without drink or a moment’s rest

To pay back loans they can never repay

 

The plantation owners get away with it

The same way American corporations do

They use contractors to hire workers

To transport them across the land

To build their debt of servitude

If they are forced to make account

They dissolve and take a new name

The system evolved over decades

To keep the cost of labor down

 

Every doctor or dentist visit

Every wedding or sick day

Goes on the worker’s bill

The long trip from home

The cost of a decent meal

It all goes on the bill

 

It is no better than slavery

It is in substance no different

 

This is how modern corporations

Keep the institution of slavery alive

This is how Coke and Pepsi

Deliver beverages to your market

And maximize profits to shareholders