RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING
Mother Earth
It is not enough to plant a tree
We must restore the sanctity
Of Mother Earth and Father Sky
It is not enough to wonder why
We must change our point of view
Invent a way of living true
To what this world demands
It is time to take a stand
The poisons in our water
The rivers are our daughters
The mountains are our sons
They live to nourish everyone
We must measure what we’re worth
By what we do for Mother Earth
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY
Thailand Awakens
The world is awakening from
A long and dangerous slumber
As the strongmen take power
And work to destroy democracy
As they attack the free press
As they attack civil society
As they attack the right to assemble
As they attack the right to protest
As they attack the right to dissent
As they dismantle their constitutions
As they challenge the right to vote
As they burn the bill of rights
As they burn books of free thought
At first the people go along
It is easier to go along
They watch in utter disbelief
They deny their own eyes and ears
It cannot happen here
They pretend it doesn’t matter
It can’t touch them where they live
Until it does
Then they awaken
Slowly at first and by degrees
Until the masses finally rise
To reclaim their human dignity
To reclaim their human rights
For some there is still time
For others it is too late
The damage done
Democracy once lost
Is difficult to regain
Pray it is not too late
Not for Thailand
Nor for us
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY
Turkey Rises (or Falls)
The people awaken
After years of silent slumber
The temptations of the autocrat
The ones who promise all yet
deliver nothing but the same old deal
Everything for the privileged class
Nothing for the poor
Erdogan promised the world
but he governed like a king
He crushed the opposition by all means
Mass arrests and mass detention
Demonize dissent, outlaw protest
Rule with an iron fist
But the people tire of his act
The people tire of their silence
The people tire of pretending they
are pleased with his brutality
The people have begun to
identify with the oppressed
Now the people assert their power
They have held on to their democracy
They have maintained the essence of
constitutional rule
The people rise as Erdogan falls
(or Erdogan rises as the people fall)
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY
India Rises
The seductive charm of Modi
has lost its hypnotic hold
The vote in Karnataka was
decisive, clear and bold
The voice of the Indian nation
has spoken loud and plain
Rejecting Hindu nationalism
Declaring all of it insane
Now India reclaims its place
among proud republican states
No longer must she hide her face
A brighter future now awaits
All nations as all people
at times must lose their way
To understand their destinies
To reclaim a better day
Soon Modi takes his leave
and all of India will rise
His legacy a broken dream
of hatred and of lies
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE
Leverage
We have a lot of leverage over Ukraine
And little over Vladimir Putin
If Ukraine wins the war Putin is lost
A pariah in the world
A criminal confined to his borders
If Putin wins Ukraine ceases to exist
So when the big bully says
He will end the war in days
You do not have to wonder
What he means
He’ll give everything to Putin
And next to nothing to Zelensky
He’ll ask one thing of the Kremlin:
A Trump Hotel in Moscow
Perhaps a golf course and resort
This is why Putin will not give ground
This is why Russian soldiers die
So that Putin can extend the war
Until his asset-ally in Washington
Assumes the American throne
This is what rides on the next election
Not just the health of the planet
Not just democracy in America
Not just the rights of women
Not just the carnage on our streets
Not just equal treatment of minorities
Not just an equitable economy
Not just the future of healthcare
But the balance of world power
And the independence of Ukraine
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE
A Hundred Thousand
A hundred thousand people die
We shake our heads and heave a sigh
A hundred thousand people dead
We turn it off and go to bed
A hundred thousand have no names
Our hearts are numb; we have no shame
A hundred thousand far away
A hundred thousand yesterday
A hundred thousand isn’t real
We have no tears, we do not feel
Another time, another place
A hundred thousand has no face
Has no mourners, leaves no trace
But a neighbor or a second cousin
Someone you once knew
A teller at your local bank
The singer with the two-tone shoes
A tender at the bar you drank
A teacher at the old school
A person with a name and face
Touches you in the very place
You live, you mourn, you grieve
You feel the death of one
As you will feel the deaths to come
But the death of thousands
Leaves you untouched and numb
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS
Remembering Mama
We remember you most every day
Your smile, your voice, your special way
Of giving sound advice
You would not tell us twice
Once was all you needed
Your values firmly seeded
They grew along with us
We built a sense of trust
You would never lead astray
We remember to this day
You taught us what it was to love
Sometimes a gentle shove
Would put us on the track
We could never pay you back
For all the love and kindness
You knew how to unwind us
To lay us gently down to rest
Feeling warm and loved and blessed
You were always smart and clever
We’ll remember you forever
[Mothers Day 2023]
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP DAZE
The Talkover at CNN
The big bully doesn’t have conversations
He runs over you like a bulldozer
Like the bully that he is
And if you dare try to stand up to him
If you dare try to get a word in
He calls you nasty names
He holds you in contempt
And places you beneath his majesty
He has his narrative of fantasy
He sticks to his talking points
Everyone who disagrees with him
Everyone who interrupts his flow
His constant flow of sacred words
His golden jewels of wisdom
Is on the take of the elite
Under the influence of haters
Drunk on the manna of media madness
He alone can set you free
He alone can end the madness
He alone can restore dignity
He alone can lead the world to peace
He alone can give women want they want
He alone can make America great again
He alone can put people in their place
He alone is the genie of all genies
You know it, I know it
Everybody knows it!
The insurrection never happened
January 6 was a walk in the park
America has gone to hell
The Proud Boys are heroes
Stand back and stand by!
He’s got a job to finish:
Ending democracy in America
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS
A Dying Art
I’ve always been attracted
to the dying arts
The arts for which society
no longer has a need
The arts that do not give
(they say) but only take
The arts that are sustained
by the generosity of patrons
The arts that have lost all relevance
in the modern techno world
Those who presume to know
The vagabonds of culture
The vultures at the door – but
never on the stage – have proclaimed
the death of the theater since
the time of Moliere
The holders of the poison pen
who have so often tried and failed
in the artform of their choosing have
declared in good time and bad faith
the end of the short story,
the death of the literary novel,
the demise of romantic verse,
the extinction of free-form poetry,
the inevitable decline of the written
word itself in all its transmutations
and yet the arts are still here
The theater has survived
a thousand slings and arrows
Poetry has survived the dumbing
down of the spoken word
Literature has thrived by paving
new avenues of expression
As Sam Clemens famously said:
Rumors of my demise are
greatly exaggerated
The arts in all its varied forms
will live as long as civilization exists
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS
Fear
Fear is a state of mind that
Overtakes our conscious reason
Fear is a raw instinct that
Proclaims the arrival of a threat
To be fearful in a dangerous world is wise
To be fearful without cause is foolish
Fear enables our survival
But it can also paralyze
To live in constant fear is hell
To live without fear lacks drive
I am because I fear is twisted
I am because I do not fear is something
Less than human
Fear is a constant in our lives
We live with fear
It accompanies us like a shadow
It exists beneath the surface
Ready to rise and guide us through
The crises of our lives
But fear cannot overtake us
It would destroy us from inside
It would consume the essence of our lives
Acknowledge fear, embrace it
But hold it in its rightful place
(re: Heidegger)
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS
Migrant Waves
They are lined up at the border
Ready to cross over
They’ve waited for the day
When the virus would subside
When the hatred would abate
When the gates of human kindness
would open up to let them in
They’ve been told to go away
Go back home where they belong
But they have no homes
No lands that welcome them
They have come from a brutal place
A place of murder and oppression
A place where mothers are raped
A place where children are abducted
A place of crime and violence
They are waiting for the gates to open
Knowing that they face discrimination
Knowing that many wish to harm them
Knowing they may be sent away
Or discarded like bags of trash
Or held in chain-link prisons
Yet they come to meet their fate
They come in waves of flesh
to remind us they are human
Do they not hope?
Do they not dream?
When you cut them,
do they not bleed?
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS
Punishment
We punish the poor for being poor
We punish the weak for weakness
We punish the world with endless war
With misery and bleakness
Let us hope we can make amends
Let us bow our heads and pray
When pressed sweet justice bends
Let us hope it bends our way
There are times we turn our backs
For no other path will do
The train has sadly left the tracks
There is nothing left to lose
But often we can light a fire
And lead the way through kindness
The way is long, we cannot tire
We cannot yield to blindness
