Ghost Towns

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Ghost Towns

 

In the old west there were ghost towns

Towns that sprung up overnight

Along the trail of wagon trains

To feed the great migration

Along the path of gold and silver

To feed the dreams of poverty

Boom and bust towns

Towns that rose from the dust

Drowned in rotgut liquor

Played hard and fast with women

Indulged in life’s forbidden pleasures

And vanished like a dream

Like a wanton drunken dream

People came and settled in

Until the gold dried up

Until the railroad moved on

Until the boom went bust

 

We’re about to enter a new age

Of the boom-and-bust ghost towns

Desert towns deserted

For lack of drinking water

For lack of irrigation

Towns overrun by rust and waste

Towns that bet it all on false promises

False gods, false prophets and false profits

Towns that thrived on agriculture

Towns that imploded on technology

Gambling towns and tourist towns

Towns that used to court life

Before the party ended

Now all that remains are memories

And ghosts

 

The Purge

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Purge

 

What happened on January Sixth?

Nefarious purpose is glaringly clear

Destruction of evidence is a crime

The eyes of justice are bearing

Down on the agents of government

Who erased essential documents

Leaving their complicity most evident

Their motives demented and bent

 

They covered the crime of the century

To serve their treasonous boss

Who unleashed his terrible fury

Threatened them all with such loss

As the strongest of men could not bear

Were they cowards or were they corrupt?

With the republic at stake, who cares?

They purged the republic of trust

Now it’s time for them to be purged

Let us do what we can and must

Let justice and honor be served

For until they are gone one and all

Americans should be appalled

 

Congo Compromise

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

Congo Compromise

 

At a time when global warming

Kills people by the thousands

In every corner of the world

The Congo decides to auction off

Its rain forest for oil and gas development

Blood for oil has become the norm

The Congo has an excuse

They are not alone in compromise

 

The European Union reclassifies liquid gas

As a source of clean, green energy

As all of Europe from Stockholm to Madrid

From London to Naples

Suffers its hottest temperatures

In the history of recorded time

Europeans have an excuse

They are dependent on Russian oil

 

America has its own compromise

But it is time we recognized

There will always be an excuse

We can no longer allow our reasons

To block the way of action

In the case of the Republic of Congo

The wealthy nations of the world

(sans China, Russia and Brazil)

Must purchase the rain forests

To ban oil and gas development

 

Is it enough?  No, but it is a step

Can we afford it?  Yes.

We cannot afford not to do it

 

The Worm Turns

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Worm Turns

 

The hearings drew a picture

That everyone could view

The former president was behind it

It is so obviously true

 

The loyalists who backed him

Have fully earned their shame

Though they ran from the mob

They’re still playing the party game

 

In case you didn’t see them

Here is what you missed

Instead of being worried

The president was in bliss

 

He planned the whole affair

He roused them to a fury

Now he sits in Mar-a-Lago

Afraid to face a jury

 

Nine Days of Hell

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Nine Days of Hell (Haiti)

 

In a lawless society

Where there is no government

Where the only law is power

And power has no authority

An explosion of chaos is inevitable

 

In a society where need exceeds want

And poverty is greater than pride

Where those who want to survive

Are forced to choose or hide

An explosion of violence is inevitable

 

In a society where guns are ubiquitous

And gardens do not exist

Where schools and libraries are memories

An explosion of gunfire is inevitable

 

Haiti is once again in the news

And it is not good

It has never been good

When Haiti is in the news

An epic tragedy is unfolding

A terrifying earthquake

A military coup

A tsunami of tears

 

This time the tragedy is human

This time the explosion is gunfire

At the hands of warring tribes

After nine days of hell

Nine days of violence

Nine days of bloodshed

The world notices

And mourns

 

Orban of Hungary

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Orban of Hungary

 

The face of the new Nazi

Belongs to Viktor Orban

The strongman of Hungary

The Don without pretense

The uncensored racist extremist

Whose policies stop just short of

Racial and cultural genocide

 

The world’s leading proponent of

The Great Replacement Theory

Which is not a theory at all

But a golden tenet of Naziism

The creed of the Birch Society

The cry of the Klan

 

The great Viktor Orban

Europe’s longest running leader

Who skims money from the Union

Like a dirty bottom feeder

But the Trumpers really love him

They lavish him with praise

On the road to kleptocracy

Viktor Orban shows the way

 

Fire, Wind & Rain

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

Fire, Wind & Rain

 

Horrendous fire, wind and rain

The prophecies unfold

A land of darkness filled with pain

The feeble and the old

Run for cover and take heed

There are more omens

Than we can read

The beggar and the blind man

Foresee a time of wanton need

 

Fire followed by torrential rain

A stripping of the land

This page of history is stained

When we failed to take a stand

When all was well and

There was time

To save the lot of man

 

We will rise again to claim a place

Upon the living earth

The survivors will give warning

Of the burdens we once faced

And our failure to live up to it

For whatever it is worth

 

Secret Service Betrayal

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Secret Service Betrayal

 

The people who protect the president today

Are those who betrayed him yesterday

 

To serve and protect is just a slogan

A shallow piece of folklore

The agents sworn to the constitution

Became the president’s whores

 

You might think that’s a little harsh

You might think it’s a little strong

Take account of all the facts *

You will find you’re entirely wrong

 

They declared by their own actions

They are enemies of the state

If we leave security in their hands

We will inherit a bitter fate

 

We should retire every one of them

Let them know what they have done

But they have failed at insurrection

(for now) democracy has won

 

* Secret Service purges all January

6^th Insurrection emails

 

Redemption

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: NATIVE JUSTICE

Redemption (versus Reparations)

 

Reparations are for the flesh

Redemption is for the soul

Reparations ease our memories

They do not make us whole

 

When those who have abused us

Offer money for our pain

It fails to give us comfort

A glass of water for the rain

 

But when we are redeemed

We are obliged to forgive

The abuser feels our suffering

Another life is lived

 

So offer your reparations

If your guilt you wish to ease

But if you seek redemption

Let your conscience set you free

 

(for all indigenous people)

 

The Rights of Women

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Rights of Women

 

Women struggled for the right to vote

Women fought for the right to speak

Women won the right to choose

Who and when they marry

Women won the right to divorce

Women fought for the right to work

Outside the home without consent

Women earned the right to equal treatment

Under the law but not to equal wages

Women demand the right to love

And live with whom they choose

Women have won the right to achieve

In all fields of endeavor

But women lost the right to end

An unwanted pregnancy

Women had won that right but lost it

It was taken from them by

A court of supreme injustice

The question now becomes:

If the court can take this right today

What rights will it take tomorrow?

If the court claims jurisdiction

Over a woman’s body

Where then does it end?

What rights are beyond its reach?

 

Universality

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Universality (Every Mother’s Son)

I’ve been all around this country

And there’s a few things that I know

Folks are pretty much the same

No matter where you go

I’ve lived a life in Tennessee

California is my home

I’ve hung my hat in New York City

Though I’ve never been to Nome

Chorus:

This is the simple truth my friend

No matter what you hear

There are those who would divide us

By playing to our fear

We might wear our hair in different styles

We might favor different clothes

But we love our friends and family

When we let our feelings show

I’ve been to other countries

I’ve flown across the sea

I’ve met good people everywhere

Who seem a lot like me

We don’t need to have a civil war

We don’t need to carry guns

We just need to know and understand

We’re every mother’s son *

We’re every mother’s son my friend

And every father’s daughter

We all breathe the same air

We all drink the same water

This is the simple truth my friend

No matter what you hear

There are those who would divide us

By playing to our fears

* and daughter

The Heat

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

 

The Heat

 

The heat is a cage

That surrounds and entraps me

In my body

In my mind

In my spirit willing

Deep in my oppressive fear

There is no escape

There is no relief

The heat climbs inside my soul

Inside the hole that used to be

The suffering of my memories

The heat warps my perception

Of all that is

Of all that was

Of all that will ever be

 

Have you ever been so hot

You cannot think

You cannot stand

You cannot walk

Until the cooling comes

And all this punishing heat

All this swarming pounding heat

Begins to recede

Like the coming of fall

Like a glass of fresh spring

Like nightfall used to be

When dinosaurs walked the earth

 

Relativity

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Relativity

 

The price of a dozen eggs

The cost of a tank of gas

A pounding wave of heat and fire

A man with murder on his brain

An assault on democracy

People living in the parks

People killed in the grocery store

Another month without rain

Working people evicted

A shortage of police

The cost of a used vehicle

People enduring constant pain

If you think it could not be worse

Let me politely explain:

You could be in Ukraine

 

London is in lockdown

The Amazon is burning

Fires streak across Brazil

Across much of southern France

Across Portugal and Spain

Northern Africa is roasting

The Middle East and Bahrain

Creeks and rivers running dry

Destroying crops and wilting grain

If you think it could not be worse

It could be Yemen or Ukraine

 

The Age of Fire

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

 

The Age of Fire

 

The wind is filled with rage

This warming will not tire

We begin this horrid age

Of wind and smoke and fire

 

The politicians all knew well

They saw clearly what was coming

But instead of speaking out

They bred the global dumbing

 

We know now we can’t escape

The consequence most dire

A swelling of the oceans

We’re in the age of fire

 

So pray to all the gods

To mitigate the harm

We sacrificed our future

By raising no alarm

 

We know you will be angry

We feel your sense of ire

We did not raise a hand

To stop the age of fire

 

Global Dumbing

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

 

Global Dumbing

 

One hundred Fahrenheit in Britain

Wildfires across France and Spain

Two hundred years of industrial waste

Hide your head and pray for rain

 

We can’t say we were not warned

We knew this day was coming

Crushing drought and extreme storms

Global warming, global dumbing

 

The sea is hot, the land is dry

It’s fuel for raging flames

We can’t pretend we don’t know why

We cannot play denial games

 

The sky is brown, the land is black

We pray an end will come

But common sense is what we lack

Global warming, global dumb

 

A Delicate Balance

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

A Delicate Balance (Hard Choices)

 

It’s a question of relative evil

The world’s need for Saudi oil

The invasion of Ukraine

The crimes on Yemeni soil

 

The Saudis are brutal oppressors

The Russians are equally bad

We yearn for simpler times

The relationships we once had

 

But the world has never been simple

We have had to make hard choices

When we silence one bad player

We enhance another’s voices

 

In the place we find ourselves today

We require the Saudis on board

To ease the global tensions

To end the Ukrainian war

 

The time must someday come

When we deal with the devil no more

I confess it seems unreachable

Like a ship on a distant shore

 

Yosemite Burning

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

 

Yosemite Burning

 

We are the caretakers of the land

And we have failed our charge

Yosemite Valley is on fire

Wawona is burning

The towering Sequoias

Trees that have survived millennia

The passing of wars

The ravages of logging

The age of industrialization

Now face the threat of warming

 

There is something quite obscene

About destroying ancient beings

Far older and infinitely more majestic

Than modern civilization

It is a failure of our culture

And a failure of our nation

That our most prized possessions

Our land our parks our forests

Our natural wonders

Now face an existential threat

And we can do little

To prevent it