Room 101 (Orwell's 1984)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Room 101*

 

They know your worst fears

They can see it in your eyes

They are knowers and deep seers

They can smell all your lies

 

Every thought you’ve ever thought

Every dream you’ve ever dreamed

Every treasure you have sought

Every pleasure you have gleaned

 

They will take you in their arms

They will promise you the stars

They’ll protect you from all harm

They will tell you who you are

 

But you must promise in return

To blindly follow without doubt

Clear your mind until you learn

You’ll never know what it’s about

 

Your soul belongs to Big Brother

To this purpose you were born

Just like all and every other

To the state you will be sworn

 

* George Orwell 1984

 

Hostages

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

Hostages

 

Held against their will

Captured by a rabid mob

Down the spine a chill

Innocence is robbed

 

Let my people go!

Israelis cry in vain

Palestine cries back

Feel my people’s pain!

 

Alas they call a truce

Released a chosen few

They gave them what they asked

What else could they do?

 

Palestine and Israel

Are locked in this embrace

A dance of death and destiny

A never-ending chase

 

For peace can never come

To a people locked in hate

As long as we’re indifferent

To either people’s fate

 

Free all political prisoners!

Palestinians and Jews

Free every single one of them

Extend the military truce

 

Argentina

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Argentina

 

Hard times lead to hopelessness

Hopelessness to despair

Desperation spreads everywhere

For better or for worse

 

In Argentina they have thrown the dice

Their government came and went

High inflation and unemployment

Invites a fatal curse

 

We can only hope for men and mice

It turns out for the best

Will democracy survive the test?

Or will it bring another verse?

 

Argentinians do not cry

There will be better times

You suffer though we know not why

Democracy is in reverse

 

It is happening across the globe

We are losing but we will win

Every time we trip and fall

We will rise up once again

 

The Fall of Europe

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

The Fall of Europe

 

What began in the United Kingdom

Like a virus spread to Spain

Italy, Greece and the Netherlands

In the balance lies Ukraine

 

Vladimir plays his poison hand

Deftly if not with grace

His agents in the Netherlands

Put on a nationalist face

 

He is taking Europe one by one

He is picking it apart

Soon the union may be done

As a madman works his art

 

We are trading in our values

To shelter us from fear

A wave of dark migration

We will pay a price in tears

 

When you let a rodent in your house

They will lay your cupboards bare

They’ll take more than you have to give

Too late! They’re everywhere!

 

Thanksgiving

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Thanks

 

Thank you for the gentle rain

It keeps the planet green

It feeds a dry and thirsty world

As it paints a pretty scene

 

Thank you for our many friends

They give our lives such wonder

Without them we would falter

Hard times might take us under

 

We thank you for our families

They tell us who and what we are

They guide us on our journeys

They tell us not to go too far

 

We thank you for your splendor

It soothes us each and every day

It greets us on our chosen paths

It blesses us with grace

 

We thank you for the gift of life

We thank you for the love

We thank you for the majesty

That reigns from up above

 

Sasha Skochilenko

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RUSSIA

Sasha Skochilenko

 

She is an artist and musician

In an authoritarian state

She placed stickers against the war

An act that sealed her fate

 

Seven years in confinement

For speaking out against the war

If she speaks our again

She will get seven more

 

Such is the state of Russian oppression

It can’t abide the least expression

Of an individual point of view

Or conscientious objection

 

One wonders how very fragile

Their authority must be

To be afraid that one person

In a single moment is free

 

To protest a cruel and despicable war

Twenty thousand stand with her

Rest assured there will be more

For our emotions will be stirred

 

Sasha Skochilenko is paying a price

For failure to follow Big Brother’s advice

Her name and her cause must now be known

Until the mighty Kremlin at last atones

 

Jew Haters

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: PREJUDICE

Jew Haters

 

They have a long and storied history

They fueled the flames of World War II

They feed on hate and prejudice

It’s all about them against you

 

Do not indulge the Jew haters

The moment you do they’ll turn

They will label you discord creators

If they have their way you’ll burn

 

They want a distinct type of nation

The ones who worship wealth

The rest can serve in lowly stations

They’ll thrive by fraud and stealth

 

They want you to blame the Other

For all misfortunes that visit you

When really they would not bother

You can always blame the Jews

 

Do not be fooled by their deceptions

See through their cynical lies

If we don’t call it at its inception

They’ll come for us by and by

 

(for Elon Musk)

Numbers

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GAZA

Numbers

 

Numbers are not people

They do not bleed

They do not suffer

Their bones are not brittle

Their bodies do not break

 

Numbers are not people

But like words they tell a story

They tell ten thousand stories in Gaza

There are stories about schools

There are stories about teachers

There are stories about students

There are stories about children

Too young to go to school

 

There are stories about doctors

There are stories about nurses

There are stories about patients

There are stories about loss

 

Picture in your mind ten thousand stories

Hear them in your own voice

Feel them in your heart

Every one of them a tragedy

Every one a mother’s tears

Every one a father’s rage

 

Every one of them a vow of vengeance

Every one a life that won’t be lived

A memory that never fades

A trail of tears forever

 

No numbers are not people

But people become numbers in war

This war must come to an end

For humanity to be restored

 

 

Shame of the Nation

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Shame of the Nation

 

To the shame of this great nation

And the electoral college scheme

We elected a golden-haired buffoon

With the power to end the dream

 

We now stand on the very threshold

Of a brutal authoritarian regime

All because we were confused

Between the party and the team

 

And so we voted for an ego

Who thought he was a mighty king

To the cause of his almightiness

Without pause he would do anything

 

Yes we voted for a senseless monster

And we might vote for him again

Just to witness his unhinged revenge

In the event that he should win

 

Say goodbye to our democracy

Say farewell to all our laws

As everything must now conform

To his divine and vicious cause

 

Inferno in Paradise

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

 

Inferno in Paradise

 

The forests of Oahu are lush and green

The rainforest at Paradiso’s core

An event our eyes have never seen

Flames where they have never been before

 

As the earth begins a radical change

From its ceiling to its floor

We see things that are new and strange

We can foresee what is in store

 

The oceans rise to take the land

Great cities are no more

Get out now while you still can

The whole planet is at war

 

It is time for us to take a stand

This time it’s not a metaphor

Everyone must lend a hand

Young and old, rich and poor

 

We’re all in this together now

For better or for worse

We don’t know why or where or how

To fight this global warming curse

Diwali

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

 

Diwali

 

At the very moment of dusk

When the sun gives way to night

They lit two million earthen lamps

To commemorate the victory of light

 

All along the sacred river

The lamps lit up the night

Give praise to the Hindu god of Ram

Give praise to the triumph of light

 

At night they pray to the goddess Lakshmi

To bring good fortune and wealth

All India comes out to celebrate

Another year of balance and health

 

May the spirit of Diwali bless us

In the year of our great need

For now we pay back our debts

For all the years of careless greed

 

The World Goes On

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

The World Goes On

 

I am the center of my existence

I live within my sphere

I have no war to contend with

I do not live in constant fear

I have no mortal enemies

I am not cursed with poverty

I do not suffer from disease

I have my own little problems

But I can handle them with ease

I have a sense of right from wrong

I understand the world goes on

 

The war is burning in Israel

The war continues in Ukraine

Global warming is wreaking havoc

From the Philippines to Maine

The cost of living seems impossible

Sometimes it all seems so inane

Synthetic drugs are killing us

Poison air and toxic rain

We all have our share of trouble

Many live in chronic pain

Some have said it all along

But the world carries on

 

Somewhere someone is hungry

Someone is on the run

Somewhere someone is wishing

All the misery was done

Someone has lost his mind

He’ll be purchasing a gun

There is no sense of justice

We will mourn for everyone

But in our hearts we know too well

From scarlet dusk to dawn

The world still goes on

 

Living with Fear

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR

Living with Fear

 

We are but humans

We cannot live in constant fear

We adapt to our conditions

If danger is always everywhere

We alter our perception

We take it from the foreground

And push it to the back

If bombs fill the sky without relief

We keep our heads to the ground

We refuse to hear the sounds

Of bombs exploding, children crying

Whole buildings coming down

 

If suffering is a constant state

We change it to awareness

We are always on alert

We look for safe havens

We search the wastelands for relief

We find food and water

We find refuge from the storm

We live the lives we’re given

As fear becomes the norm

 

We no longer are afraid

And in moments of quietude

As rare and numbered as they may be

We pray that tomorrow it will end

We pray the bombs will not fall

We pray that suffering will mend

Until then we will survive

Until then we’ll stay alive