New Normal

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

New Normal

Obsessive hand washing

Like monks at a monastery

In need of cleansing

Hypersensitivity to touch

Like hypochondriacs on steroids

Hoarding toilet paper and sanitizer

For the greedy live among us

Hunkered down in isolation

Like inmates on an island

Reruns and repeating news

Like an existentialist play

Stocks in freefall suspended trading

What day is it today?

Reporters in mask and gloves

Like surgeons in the operating room

Groceries by delivery

Casualty counts in the absence of war

Walls pushing ever inward

Sympathy for the poor

We survive

We make adjustments

We practice patience

We hold on to our humanity

And pray the rising death toll

Does not become the new normal

Easter in a Time of Sorrow

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Easter in a Time of Sorrow

Easter is a time to gather

A time of fun and joy

A time to hear the latest stories

To praise the little girls and boys

We hold back all our doubt and troubles

And breathe the springtime air

We watch the children run and play

And laugh without a care

Chocolate eggs and painted rainbows

Singing birds and blooming flowers

Life affirming love abounding

We leave behind our darkest hours

Easter now becomes a shadow

Of a joy that is no more

A day to gather at a distance

A day to wonder what’s in store

We will find our way to grace again

We must not become forlorn

In the days of sorrow we affirm

Our happiness will be reborn

Routine

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Routine

Same time every morning

Wake up get out of bed

Make coffee take care of business

Read the paper sit down and write

Walk the dog smell the air

Watch television say goodnight

Same thing every day

Every week and every month

Day after night after day

Till the cows come home

Or pigs fly

In times of trouble

Routine protects us from desire

Routine prevents us from thinking

Routine blocks the creative path

And paves the way of caution

Routine creates a façade of normality

That stands in our place

Like crash test dummies

When alas the troubles pass

We will break the chains and scream

From the highest mountain: 

Free at last! Free at Last!

Great God Almighty!

We are free at last!

Helpless

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Helpless

Life does not cooperate with individual will

Life is stubborn and self-directing

It asserts itself without regard for

Schedules of convenience

Life does not care what your

Ambitions or appointments are

It demands that you conform

To its dictates and inclinations

Life is a wayward child that latches

On to you and pulls you where it will

It leaves you helpless and yearning

In desperation and despair

Life does not request your consent

It grabs you by the neck

Pulls you to the naked floor

Compels you to follow without question

You are powerless before her

An infant to a mother

She neither cares nor does not care

She is all there is no other

Triage (The Value of a Life)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Triage (The Value of a Life)

How much is a life worth?

Do we calculate the value of creativity?

How much is the value of age?

What price do we place on genius? 

How much is philosophy worth? 

The decision of who lives and dies

Comes down to simple equations

But the numbers can never reflect

The true value of a human life

What if Einstein was diabetic? 

What if Mother Teresa was too old?

What if Tesla was jobless?

What if Curie was too cold? 

Shakespeare Mozart Blake the Beats

Would they make the grade? 

Longfellow Wordsworth Sitting Bull Yeats

Would modern medicine come to their aid?

You can place a number on any thing

But its value remains a mystery

Ode to a Balladeer (for John Prine)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Ode to a Balladeer

He sang the heart of America

From a place in the deepest soul

He understood the working man

A woman left yearning

A child’s world of wonder

An elder in an old folks home

What it’s like to be alone

He put himself inside

A stranger at your door

The deepest wounds of war

A woman at the kitchen sink

Wondering what it’s for

He dug beneath the surface

Tapped deep into the core

He was loved everywhere he went

An angel from Montgomery sent

Never lonely in his later years

Never had to buy a beer

A brother or a friend most dear

A warm smile was always near

At home in every town

With saints or sullen clowns

Now he’s on the other side

Looking back at us with that wry grin

Maybe tipping a glass of gin

Waiting for someone to say

Hello out there

Goodbye

He understood us better than

We understand ourselves

(for John Prine)

Solace

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Solace

At times of hardship

When the weight of the world

Comes down on you with the force

Of eternal woe

Seek solace in the ones you love

Seek comfort in joyful memories

Discover truth in acts of kindness

Find warmth in words you treasure

Hold onto the grace in pleasing melodies

Take heart in familiar passions

Take refuge in the love of family

And welcome the love of friends

We will survive these wretched times

To emerge stronger and more wise

But it will steal so many hours

And it will cost so many lives

Seek solace for the harm will pass

While love kindness and faith will last

Profiteering

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Profiteering

To those who see opportunity in tragedy

How much is a human life worth? 

To those who make money from misfortune

Would you trade your sacred soul

For a seat at the table of avarice? 

To those senators who converted

Secret knowledge of a global pandemic

Into stock market treasure

You have forfeited your right to serve

You have lost your place in civil society

You have lost the love of your fellow travelers

And the good and gracious will of humanity

You have lost the right to count yourself

Among the kind and decent people

Who survive without your help

Flat Earth Society

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Flat Earth Society

The society is pleased to announce

A series of meetings for fifty or more

In spaces that hold seventy-five or less

On the agenda we relate

The appropriate response to the coronavirus

Or whistling Dixie while the ship goes down

We look forward to our planned activities

Bobbing for juicy red apples

Licking peppermint flavored envelopes

Heard it through the grapevine

Blowing out the candles

Sharing the community dip

And many other get-close activities

Fun for the entire family

We close each session as always

With a rousing rendition of

Good Night Irene

Laughter in a Time of Pestilence

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Laughter in a Time of Pestilence

Now more than ever find the humor

In everyday things

The way your neighbor strikes a pose

The way your aunt Rose sings

The way a glance seems out of place

The way her eyes sit on her face

A scientist plays a fool

A genius struggles at school

A gardener in a surgeon’s mask

A penguin wobbling fast

A dentist who never smiles

A fast runner finishing last

A small man standing tall

A proud man takes a fall

A fancy Dan tromps through mud

A wily weakling plays the stud

In a time of sickness death and sorrow

Find the moments that amuse

Survive the hours till tomorrow

Find a way to beat the blues

Future World

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Future World

The question is not whether we will survive

The question is in what form will we survive

We are the creators of a self-perpetuating

Technology that will soon exceed the

Capabilities of the collective human mind

We can never be erased

We can never be eliminated

We cannot be destroyed without

Destroying the very soul of creation

We will exist but in what form?

As caged curiosities for probing?

Or as fully functional humans?

The choice may not be ours

Perhaps it never was

Play Ball!

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Play Ball

Baseball doesn’t matter

It’s just a kid’s game

A pastime for old timers

Who have little time to pass

But a lot of time to spend

Baseball doesn’t matter

Let the kids play soccer

No expensive equipment

No bases no mask no gloves

Just a ball a field and two goals

Let them play stick ball

In open fields or on the streets

Let the multimillionaires who play

For glory adulation and treasure

Go home to count their money

And rest on their laurels

Baseball doesn’t matter

But when the call goes out again

I’ll be there in the stands leaning

Forward waiting patiently for the

Umpire’s proclamation:  Play ball!

We can’t go home again

But we can still dream

Art without Audience

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Art without Audience

Does art exist without the means

To appreciate it? 

Drama without tears

Comedy without laughter

Works of art without eyes to behold

Letters without readers

Concerts without ears

Does art exist in isolation? 

Would an artist bother with creation?

Yes! Yes! and Yes again!

Artistic expression is and always

Will be the highest endeavor of

Human existence

American Negation

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

American Negation

We are told not to gather in groups

We are told not to get too close

We are told not to touch our faces

So naturally we can think of nothing else

We are Americans

We do as we please

We travel our own paths

We proclaim our defiance

In bold proud terms

We will not be told what to do

We will not be commanded

We will not be informed

We will not be demanded

We do not believe in experts

We do not believe in science

We define our own existence

We make our own rules

Even if it kills us

Or our grandparents

Suspended Disbelief

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Suspended Disbelief

There are more of them every day

The ones who think they can bend

The world to their desires

More and more do not believe

What they do not wish to believe

They walk through the world

In defiant ignorance daring

Blowback to wash over them

Like a raging sea

I wish them well

I hope they’re right

I wish their way of thinking

Could became a reality

There is no danger

Because we want no danger

Because we are immune

Because we are the chosen

Because our minds project

Forcefields of protection

In the absence of hard facts

How long can disbelief be suspended

Before it turns to despair?

Withdrawal

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Withdrawal

The great cultural experiment begins

Can we survive without sporting events

Without plays and movies

Without concerts and rallies

Without lectures and poetry readings

Without schools and universities

Without gatherings of any kind

We are social creatures

We exult in vicarious victories

We mourn vicarious defeat

We exist by watching others watching ourselves

We affirm our humanity by observing others

reflecting our place in the world

Who are we without circles of society?

Can we satisfy our needs through

social media and virtual reality?

We have begun our lives as experimental

subjects crash test dummies laboratory rats

like Pavlov’s dogs

We have become raw data to be

processed dissected and analyzed

We are withdrawing cold turkey

from our addictions and some of us

will not get out alive

Corona

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Corona

I respect words

I resent having a word burned into my

consciousness without my consent

I resent words being redefined with a

mark of death to the end of time

Corona

A crown

The blazing crown of the sun

The king of beers

Cerveza mas fina

What was once innocent and refreshing

is now and forever stained with

Deadly sickness hospitals and quarantine

Never again can we say corona

without conjuring an image of

destitution and plague

Isolation

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS

Isolation

Condemned to exist in a shrinking space

Where nothing living can penetrate

Isolation not as punishment

But as precautionary measure

Compelled to dive inward

To discover forbidden secrets

Fears and desires buried deep

In the hidden subconscious

How will we emerge from such an exercise?

How will we be transformed?

We are unwilling participants in the greatest

experiment in the history of the world

Will we rise or fall?

Will we thrive or wallow?

No one knows

No one has a clue

The only certainty is that nothing

But nothing will ever be the same

The Plague

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS

The Plague 

A deep dark deadly shadow fell upon the earth

Spreading like wildfire crossing borders

Walls and oceans with little hesitation

No one listened when the ghosts of

Nostradamus warned the end is nigh

No one listened when the poets cried

The reckoning is at hand

No one listened when the bible thumping

Soothsayers brought down the hammer

Of the lord’s vengeance

We’re listening now

We’re making amends

We’re praying now

Praying it’s not the plague

Praying it’s not Armageddon

Praying it’s not too late

THE MARKET HAS SPOKEN

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  THE CORONAVIRUS

The Market Has Spoken

In the midst of pandemic the president

Declares:  Enough is enough!

We have to stop this market slide

So what if people die?

Take your sniveling driveling empathy

And toss it out the door

The flu takes thirty thousand lives

What’s thirty thousand more?

And the market sings hallelujah boys

The party’s on again

The working stiffs will always lose

And we will always win

So the Dow becomes a morbid measure

Of how many lives we lost

But the people will remember always

That it came at such a cost

[Note:  As I post this the Dow has risen over 3,000 points since the president declared he will not allow the virus to impede the nation's economy for much longer.]