Saturday, June 20, 2020

Twisted History: A Legacy of Shame

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  GEORGE FLOYD SERIES



Twisted History

400 years since slaves arrived on the American shore
220 years since the birth of the Underground Railroad
200 years since the Missouri Compromise
163 years since Dred Scott
159 years since the inception of the Civil War
157 years since the Emancipation Proclamation
156 years since the burning of Atlanta
155 years since the 13th Amendment
154 years since Lincoln’s assassination
154 years since the birth of the KKK
153 years since reconstruction
150 years since the dawn of Jim Crow
124 years since Plessy V. Ferguson
99 years since the Tulsa Massacre
83 years since the death of Bessie Smith
81 years since Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit
75 years since the Civil Rights Act
65 years since the lynching of Emmett Till
56 years since Nina Simone’s Mississippi Goddamn
55 years since the killing of Malcolm X
55 years since the summer of Watts
52 years since the assassination of the King
51 years since the Hampton and Clark
29 years since Rodney King
7 years since the nullification of Voting Rights
7 years since Black Lives Matter
6 years since the murder of Michael Brown
6 years since Tamar Rice and Eric Garner
5 years since Jamar Clark
4 years since Philando Castile
3 years since Charlottesville
2 years since Botham Jean
1 year since Danquirs Franklin
4 months since Ahmaud Arberi
3 months since Breonna Taylor
2 months since Sean Reed
1 month since George Floyd
1 day since Rayshard Brooks

After 400 years of twisted history
False promises exploitation
And brutality
Atlanta burns
America wonders why

Friday, June 19, 2020

The Band Plays On

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  CORONAVIRUS SERIES



The Band Plays On

The death toll rises
As the band plays on
Fire fills the western sky
And the band plays on
Old folks keep on dying
While the band plays on
Loved ones are crying
As the band plays on

Our hospitals are overrun
Our cities smell of rot
A shadow lurks o’er the sun
Our happiness is not

We live in sorrow day and night
The horror has no end
We hide our eyes from dreadful sights
As death becomes our friend

Blindness is appalling
When it is willful ignorance
When it harms the ones we love
And offends intelligence

The death toll keeps rising
Our faith is almost gone
Our sympathy is fading
While the band plays on


Thursday, June 18, 2020

Acceleration

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Acceleration

The virus finds its mark
Zeroes in
Attacks like a pack of wolves
Spreads like a murder of crows
In flight
Accelerates like a diving bird
Of prey

We thought it would go away
Returned to our ordinary lives
Locked our old folks in their place
Stopped tracking the daily toll
Placed our fate in the hands of god
Rolled the dice and played the game

We are where we are because
We wanted to be free
We are where we are because
We refused to be controlled
By some incomprehensible enemy
Because our leader went to sleep
Dismissed all the guards and
Told us not to worry
Because we are Americans
Always in a hurry

The virus doesn’t care
What we say or what we think
The acceleration is happening
As we stand on the brink


Wednesday, June 17, 2020

Return of COVID-19

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Return of COVID-19

Like a grade B movie from the fifties
A horror flick no one wanted
And no one flocked to see
Back by unpopular demand
And stubborn insistence
It’s COVID-19

Killer of the elderly
The frail and the infirm
With a penchant for darker skin
It strikes by day strikes by night
Travels by air and evades sight
It claimed 100 thousand lives
And still got no respect
So it returns in form
To claim 100 thousand more

No one can say
We did not have fair warning
It comes like a whisper
To lead us in mourning

We know what to do
But we’ve lost our patience
We’ve lost our will and common sense

So let the old folks go
Let the weak fall down
Let the young and strong
Seek solid ground

Contrary to wishful opinion
It did not disappear in warmer weather
It did not thrive on media attention
It survived without intention
Like a shadow in the dark
It worked its deadly spell
On frail and unsuspecting prey
One by one the weak ones fell
Gone from view it now returns
To ravage us in light of day
And we are left with little to do
But bow our heads and pray


Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Random Facts (A Roll of the Dice)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Random Facts

If you live in Taiwan or Sweden
South Korea or New Zealand
If you’re Asian or Caucasian
If you’re healthy and strong
If you live in a house
If you work at home
If your income is secure
If you have little stress
If you’re under fifty-five
Without conditions underlying
Then you’re the lucky one
The odds are with you
Throw the dice

If you live in Italy or Brazil
New York or Great Britain
If you’re black or brown
If you live in the barrio or favela
If you reside in the projects
If you lack fresh vegetables and fruit
If you’re over sixty-five
If you take medications
For conditions underlying
Then your luck is running thin
Let the prayers begin
If you’re feeling a little sick
You’ve drawn the short end of the stick

Are you lucky my friend?
Depends
On who what and where you are

One roll you survive
Another
You don’t get out alive

Random chance random facts
First second or final act

Roll the dice and let us see
What alas your fate will be

Monday, June 15, 2020

Confluence of Catastrophe

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Confluence of Catastrophe

Wildfires in the west
Hurricanes in the east
In the midst of a great pandemic
The reaper is preparing a feast

We are walking in our sleep
Too dazed to think ahead
We know we should get ready
But we’d rather play games instead

Is there anybody out there
Who knows what we should do?
Is there anybody out there
Who can help us see it through?

We are a ship without a captain
Like a rig without a wheel
We are adrift in open waters
And we don’t know what to feel

We are waiting for a hero
To shake us from our gloom
If we do not soon awaken
We are sure to meet our doom


Sunday, June 14, 2020

Back to School

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Back to School

Can I go back to school today
Me and Johnny want to play
I promise to do my homework
And the president says it’s okay

You cannot go back to school today
You cannot go back tomorrow
There are just too many questions
Better safe than sorrow

But I have to go back to school today
I have to see my friends
Johnny’s mom is letting him go
Cause the world is on the mend

You cannot go back to school today
But you must go back soon I know
We can’t keep you home forever
But at least we can take it slow

We’ll pray for little Johnny
As we pray for all the kids
I fear you are paying the price
For the terrible things we did

Saturday, June 13, 2020

Willful Ignorance (for James Baldwin)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  GEORGE FLOYD SERIES



Willful Ignorance

The words of a great man
From a former generation
Haunt the white man’s world
With the weight of eternal history
And the depth of eternal knowledge

“If you can overcome the curtain of my color”
Then we can live in peace
If not we will be at war perpetually
A war like most wars that no one can win

“I want exactly what you want”
I want to be left alone
I want to walk the streets of America
Without fear of never returning
To my home
I want my children and theirs
To grow up in safe neighborhoods
Where kindness and wisdom thrive
Where hatred and brutality fail

“You will listen or you will perish”
And we will perish together
Like pigs in a pen
Like fools in a pool of madness
We are human beings
We are not bison or beavers
That you can hunt into extinction
We are not leaving
This is our land as much as yours
You brought us here as slaves
But we are free
We have won our freedom
And we will not yield equality
We are here to stay
Make peace with that reality

(respectfully for James Baldwin)

Friday, June 12, 2020

Killing Doctors in Moscow

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Killing Doctors in Moscow

We show mercy to the terminally ill
We shoot animals in pain
They let doctors die in Russia
For telling the truth in vain

A doctor takes a solemn oath
To treat the sick and do no harm
When you witness dangerous situations
You have a duty to raise alarm

But the Kremlin thinks its surrounded
By a bubble of immunity
If they keep it all a secret
It does not hit your own community

It doesn’t matter where you’re from
Or where you practice your occupation
You deserve respect and common decency
From the leaders of your nation

So cry now for Moscow
And let your tears flow
The image of a proud nation
Falls to the one we know

Thursday, June 11, 2020

It Ain't Over

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



It Ain’t Over

You can’t end a war with a fantasy
You can’t tell a virus to cease and desist
You can’t halt death with a snap of your fingers
You can’t stop a storm with a wish

Did you think it would all disappear
If you said there was nothing to fear?
Did you believe it would go away
If you commanded it not to stay?

When we were bright eyed kids
And the world was ours to declare
We could pick up our marbles and leave
If we thought the game wasn’t fair

But those days are forever gone
We now face the fate we’ve earned
When we pour fuel on a fire
We know we will get burned

You can’t stop the sun from rising
You can’t stop the sea with a prayer
You can’t stop an eagle from flying
You can’t stop disease with a dare

It ain’t over till it’s over


Wednesday, June 10, 2020

New York Breakdown

RANDOM POETRY HOUR: GEORGE FLOYD SERIES



New York Breakdown

Brutality on the streets of New York
Betrayal of the public trust
The shining beacon on an island
Has gone from boom to bust

New York we love you
But you’re beating us down *
The city of enlightenment
City of dreams now broken
And scattered into a million
Little pieces on bloodied ground

When the pandemic smashed into you
Like the first wave of a tsunami
We turned to you in admiration
We looked to you for salvation
We held you up for inspiration
We felt for you and prayed

Now you revert to political form
And blame the beaten
For being bruised

New York we love you
But you will be forsaken
After centuries of injustice
It’s time to awaken

[* LCD Soundsystem:
New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down]

Tuesday, June 09, 2020

Lockdown Pennsylvania Avenue

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  GEORGE FLOYD SERIES



Lockdown Pennsylvania Avenue

With the impeachment trial
An enemies list
Disdain for lawful protest
Rejection of civil rights
And disregard for civil liberties
The horrors of the day
Recall the reign of Tricky Dick
Who resigned in disgrace

But it was LBJ who hunkered down
In the Oval Office
Locked down in the White House
While an army of vocal protesters
Camped out beyond the fence
And refused to leave
LBJ ended his reign under siege

In an act of common decency
To spare the nation further pain
He refused to seek a second term
Acknowledged nothing more to gain

If only this president
Had the decency of LBJ
He would step down and fade away

But he is neither Nixon nor LBJ
He’s under lockdown behind razor wire
In the fortress on Pennsylvania Avenue
Alone and despondent
He knows now he couldn’t make the grade
He curses ghosts in the darkness
Lashes out at those he sees
Devolves into madness
Issuing his decrees

Johnson escalated Vietnam
Nixon doubled down
But neither put our troops
On American ground

Monday, June 08, 2020

Not Enough

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GEORGE FLOYD SERIES



Not Enough

Justice calling with charges of
Second degree murder
Aiding and abetting
A first and second step
Toward peace
Not enough

Remove them from the force
And all their collaborators
End the conspiracy of silence
Review every case
The dirty cops ever touched
Compensate their victims
And free the abused
Put them behind bars
And ask how they like it now
Still not enough

Rebuild the inner cities
The westsides the eastsides
From the ground up
Provide decent housing
And living wages
An end to homelessness
And mass incarceration
Restore voting rights
Healthcare for all
Not enough

It will never be enough
Until the hearts and minds of all
Are altered at the core

It will never be enough
Until every bad cop
Is relieved of duty
Now and forever

It will not be enough
Until cops go to jail
For crimes committed
Behind the badge
Beneath the cover of darkness

It will never be enough
Until people of color
Can walk down the streets
Without fear of the color blue


Sunday, June 07, 2020

Vampires of Protest

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GEORGE FLOYD SERIES



Vampires of Protest

Looters and instigators
Thieves and agitators
Brick throwers and manipulators
Leeches and parasites
Vampires of protest
Who hide out in the daylight
And only come out at night

Bloodsuckers feeding
On righteous indignation
The poison well of exploitation
Poised to march and ready to fight
But the vampires only
Come out at night

Justice seekers hit the streets
Day after day soldiers of light
To change what’s wrong
And uphold what’s right
A cause subverted by
Losers and lowlifes
A disgusting sight
They only come out at night

Saturday, June 06, 2020

Insurrection

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GEORGE FLOYD SERIES



Insurrection

The uprising begins
The insurrection is upon us
Soldiers march on the streets of America
Our own against our own

Mounted police in the nation’s capital
Batons riot sticks and pepper spray
Facing down peaceful protesters
In the glaring light of day

The eyes of the world are watching
The earth bears witness to this offense
The official deployment of brutality
Against the right of the people to speak

The president declares insurrection
Swears an oath to beat them down
Like rabid dogs without homes
Put them in their rightful place
Restore law and order
As only brutes and monarchs can

Remember Kent State
Remember Ohio
Remember Jackson State
Remember Berkeley Square

The president declares war
On his own people
And we know how it ends
Someone must die
To appease the king
And uphold the lie
Of justice in America

Friday, June 05, 2020

Good People on Both Sides

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  GEORGE FLOYD SERIES


Good People

Some words never fade
They stick in your mind
Where you don’t want to look
And wait for a reckoning
A moment of clarity
When finally as if by magic
It all makes sense

Good people on both sides
Neo Nazis and civil rights protesters
Swastikas against peace symbols
Advocacy against insults
Reason against threats
Resistance against aggression

A woman crushed for taking a stand
Good people on both sides
A man killed for being black
Good people and bad apples

As the nation explodes in rage
Our president yields to silence
Except to encourage violence
Nothing against the racist extreme
Nothing against the white supreme
Blame it on antifa: the anti-fascists
Blame it on the leftist scourge
Get tough against the mob

Good people on both sides
Nothing about the man who died
Nothing to heal the nation’s divide
Nothing but MAGA pride

Good people on our side
The others are all terrorists
You know what we do with terrorists
Lock em up!
Crush em like cockroaches!
Stuff em in a cage!
Teach em a lesson they’ll take
To the grave!

Some words never fade
Some folks never change
Some are elected president
To remind us of our shame

Thursday, June 04, 2020

Burning Down Your Own House

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GEORGE FLOYD SERIES



Burning Down Your Own House

Rage has no direction

It radiates like reflective light

You’re angry at the man

You’re angry at the world

Righteous anger is understood

But don’t burn down your hood

 

Been going on since the dawn of time

And nothing ever changes

We pretend to understand there’s a

Disease that infects the nation

But as time goes by we realize

It’s just another initiation

 

Our hearts grow cold and bitter

Our voices silent as a mouse

Anger burrows but it doesn’t help

To burn down your own damn house

 

The time will come as come it must

To turn the world around

Murder by the men in blue must end

It can’t be tolerated

The vast conspiracy of white silence

Must be terminated

 

It’s hard to wait another minute

But you know it does no good

To burn down the house of justice

When it’s in your neighborhood