How Many?

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GAZA

How Many?

 

A child born in Rafah

Just an hour before his fate

He had nothing to do with the raging war

His existence was soon erased

 

They are heaped in massive trenches

Like victims of a deadly plague

How horrid the stench of death

Like a nightmare from a lost dark age

 

A dozen here, a thousand there

They no longer have names or faces

The Gaza Strip is a hell on earth

The worst of the hellish places

 

We no longer want all the answers

We no longer want to know why

The only thing we want to know is:

How many more must die?

 

You once taught us to care for others

Now we’ve discovered it was a lie

If we fail to stop this brutal attack

How many more will die?

 

(re: Chris Hayes of MSNBC)

Notorious MTG

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Notorious MTG

 

They love her in the Kremlin

She’s as sweet as she could be

Her loyalty is steadfast

The best they’ve ever seen

She puts it on the line

She’s crude, loud and mean

Vladimir says she’s fine

Marjorie Taylor Greene

 

One day she’ll fly to Moscow

To meet her only friend

But he will only laugh at her

With a message he will send:

You were a useful idiot

There is no more to say

No one really likes you

It’s just a game we play

 

So Marjorie is alone now

No one to hold her hand

No one on the phone now

To say they understand

Nobody really cares now

What Marjorie says or does

She’s no longer in the loop

There is no Marjorie buzz

 

Mississippi Law

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE

Mississippi Law

 

Anything goes in Mississippi

The law is what they say it is

Whether you fall victim to abuse

Depends largely on what day it is

 

They taze you bro if they feel like it

They might beat you or abuse you

They don’t take you to the jailhouse

If they did they just might lose you

 

They’ve been doing it for decades

Getting away with it, too

If you think you’ve got your rights

You don’t know them like we do

 

This world can be an evil place

It doesn’t matter where you are

For evil thrives in evil hearts

But Mississippi sets the bar

 

These people who did the deeds

Should never be free again

What they did is beyond forgiving

They’ve become less than men

 

Justice Denied

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE

Justice Delayed

 

For those who consider him a fool

He knows how the game is played

Maybe he faked his way through school

But justice denied is justice delayed

 

There are many ways to push back time

His lawyers know how it’s done

A thousand documents at deadline

This is how their cause is won

 

They don’t have to escape the blame

They don’t have to win on the law

They just have to delay the game

It’s a monster made out of straw

 

You’d think we would have learned

Our patience and nerves are frayed

Play their game and you might get burned

For justice denied is justice delayed

 

Don’t look now, it’s turned around

We’re on the other side

Looking in and wondering how

Justice delayed is justice denied

 

316 to 94 (Aid to Ukraine)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

316 – 94

 

The vote on the floor of the House

Ukraine 316, Russia 94

Zelensky 316, Putin 94

Biden 316, Trump 94

 

The vote left no doubt

America is still America

The Putin caucus lost its pull

Crushed by a wave of patriotism

Battered by old-time allegiance

We will not be the reason

The Soviet empire was reborn

The Iron Curtain reforged

The world redivided into us and them

The free world and the oppressed

We will not return to the Cold War

(a war that was never cold)

We will not yield democracy to Europe

Not yet

Not this time

 

We are America and we will not

go down without a fight

We will hold our ground

with a new coalition

A coalition of democrats and republicans

Small d and small r

We will defend our birthright

Our legacy and our ideals

Unite in purpose and cause

 

(House passes foreign aid bill 316-94.)

 

The Unbiased

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE

 

The Unbiased

 

Are you now or have you ever been

a member of the MAGA army?

Are you now or have you ever been

a Joe Biden sympathizer?

 

If there is anyone in this nation

who has not made up their mind

about the two gentlemen representing

their respective parties in the coming

presidential election who are they?

Where have they been for the last

half century and beyond?

 

Have you ever watched a television show?

Have you ever read a newspaper?

Have you ever voted in an election?

Have you ever considered voting?

Have you every pledged allegiance

to the flag of the United States of America?

Have you ever considered what that means?

Do you believe in the rule of law?

Do you believe in democracy?

Do you know what that is?

 

If there is anyone in this fair land

who can answer no to all these questions

their lack of bias speaks of ignorance

or an astounding level of disinterest

 

In either case they should not sit

in judgment on anyone in any case

whatsoever

(Note: Jury selection for Trump's NY trial begins.)

Havana Syndrome

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Havana Syndrome

 

American diplomats in Havana

Stricken with an invisible weapon

Disorientation and loss of balance

Tinnitus and cognitive impairment

Ultrasound, microwave, an unknown agent

Piercing walls and physical barriers

 

To disable persons of importance

Our government finds no answers

Answers would require action

Reactions would have consequences

International protocols would be required

Retribution would be exacted

The villains would be exposed

A price would be paid

 

We know what we don’t know

We possess such weapons ourselves

It is likely we have deployed them

The enemy has been informed

We hold these things in confidence

For they would alarm the masses

We don’t want to know how easily

Our lives can be disrupted

Across borders, within our homes

Anywhere on this earth

Poisoned Water

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ENVIRONMENT

Poisoned Water

 

What is the cost of poisoned water?

They ask with a crooked smile

Have you lost a son or daughter?

Should we wait a little while?

Should we pretend it’s all okay?

We’ve been drinking it so long

We don’t know any other way

If our children grow up strong

That’s the price we have to pay

What we don’t know can’t harm

So keep us in the dark

We’ll live in blissful charm

There’s no flame without a spark

We’ll live our lives in peace

And yes some of us will die

We’ll pray for them on their release

And we’ll never wonder why

 

The Curse

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: HOLY WARS

The Curse

 

Religion can be a blessing

Just as often it’s a curse

Nothing good can happen

When we place religion first

 

The Muslims hate the Christians

The Christians hate the Jews

When people fight for faith

Both sides will always lose

 

The Shias hate the Sunnis

The Hindus hate them all

They all claim to be peaceful

Then we’re up against the wall

 

Too many wars have been fought

Not to know the damage done

When both sides fight for God

Holy wars are never won

 

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