Kenyans in Haiti

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Kenyans in Haiti

 

Haiti descends into madness

A lawless, chaotic society

A society of thugs and criminals

Gangs and gangsters

Roaming the hungry streets

Marking the neighborhood territories

Like wild dogs on the prowl

Guns are more plentiful than drinking water

Thousands killed and thousands displaced

A self-imposed genocide

 

The Spanish, French and Americans failed

Now Kenya leads a multinational force

A force of two thousand five hundred police

Charged with dismantling the rule of anarchy

Charged with imposing order on chaos

Charged with displacing the mob

 

As Henry said to Eleanor:

Do you think there’s any chance of it?

Eleanor only laughed *

 

The world shares the failure in Haiti

The world must take responsibility

 

* From The Lion in Winter

Nobody Cares

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Nobody Cares

 

They took your train for a ride

Maybe they thought it was fun

In jest they took your side

You called them to act on January 6

Your mobsters crashed the capitol

Carrying flags of white supremacy

You told them you’d lead them

But you weren’t there

You hemmed and hawed

But nobody cares

 

They did your bidding and you ran away

They paid for what they did that day

 

Four years later you called again

You called for riots in the streets

You called for mass demonstrations

You warned them not to indict

You warned them not to convict

There would be dire consequences

The likes of which we’ve never seen

But there were no demonstrations

They were no riots in the streets

There was hardly a whimper

Outside the bombast echo chamber

Of feigned outrage and real fake news

In the real world they stopped and stared

But no one seemed to care

 

You promised us a riot

You promised violent upheaval

You promised a war of retribution

But you’re not the one who pays

You’re not the one who sacrifices

You won’t even go to jail

You whine and whimper It’s not fair!

It turns out nobody cares

Viva Sheinbaum! Viva Mexico!

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Viva Sheinbaum!

 

Mexico rises while others step back

A woman becomes president

Holding the nation on track

Of course there are problems

But the people well know

In a world filled with dangers

Our progress is slow

 

But we cannot lose sight

On the long road ahead

Of the wrongs and the rights

To endure what we’ve bred

We need patience and strength

To break from the past

If we do not make changes

Our race will not last

 

So today while we celebrate

A great victory for all

We must always remember

We’re not far from the fall

The gangs are still thriving

They’re still building a wall

While the odds of surviving

Are beginning to stall

Climate Change Deniers

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

Climate Change Deniers

 

They looked us in the eyes

And said it wasn’t true

When it got a little late they said

There’s nothing we can do

 

So we went on with our shopping

Our burning fossil fuels

We went on with our partying

On the famous Ship of Fools

 

From the West Texas tornadoes

To the California fires

Give a nod and tip your hats

To the climate change deniers

 

We didn’t hear them then

The sayers and the criers

Against the echo chamber

Of the climate change deniers

 

We listen to them now

As the earth begins to burn

We smell their little lies

And their dirty little liars

Who never knew and never learned

The climate change deniers

 

Disproportionate Retribution

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GAZA

Disproportionate Retribution

 

During the October 7^th outrage

Hundreds were taken as hostages

Men were tortured and women raped

Thirteen hundred innocents were killed

 

In the ensuing war against Palestine

Nearly 40 thousand Gazans died

Nine thousand West Bank Palestinians

taken as leverage or punishment

Men and children beaten; women raped

Journalists killed and detained

 

Martial law is in effect

Israeli soldiers do as they please

Those who live in the Gaza Strip

Have been pushed from north to south

where they are cornered and trapped

Displaced from their homes

They run, they hide, the beg for mercy

Yet Israel has none to give

Netanyahu has executed mercy

Netanyahu has extinguished good will

Netanyahu has exterminated hope

At best it is disproportionate retribution

At worst it is genocide

At least it is unforgivable sin

Hang On!

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

Hang On

 

It rolls in like an angry sea

In waves of battering heat

Relentless and without mercy

It refuses to skip a beat

 

So hang on for a brutal ride

In the early days of June

Nowhere to run, just stay inside

And howl at the yellow moon

 

They warned us it was coming fast

They laid it out in stark detail

They put the flags at half mast

They delivered it in the mail

 

So now it is up to all of us

Let us do the best we can

Get on board the climate bus

For the final days of man

 

Maybe I exaggerate

Maybe it’s not so bad

Could it be it’s not too late?

It’s enough to drive me mad

 

127 Degrees in New Delhi

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

127 Degrees

 

127 degrees Fahrenheit in New Delhi

The hottest ever in the month of May

For as long as temperatures have been recorded

Do not let your children go out to play

For the seasons now are grossly distorted

Imagine a heat that rolls in waves

Just imagine the way it feels

You blame the sun for its brutal rays

You are certain it is not real

It beats you down like a runaway slave

Like a pain that never heals

 

One hundred twenty-seven degrees in May

How hot will it be come summer

Crops will fail, emotions will fray

The dumb will become even dumber

And no one knows what happens then

In the months of desperation

We’ll beg and plead to breathe again

We’ll remember that cool sensation

We will not look back at where we’ve been

We’ll pretend it never occurred

But there was a time we remember when

Our destruction was not assured

Dissent in Hong Kong

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Dissent in Hong Kong

 

There is no joy on the streets of Hong Kong

There is no discourse at all

There are martyr’s tears for Helena Wong *

Among the chosen to take the fall

 

A conspiracy to commit subversion

A trumped-up charge if ever there was

They claim the right to imprison anyone

No matter what one says or does

 

They stood for the right to public protest

They stood for Hong Kong’s independence

They face a lifetime behind cold bars

They were hardly allowed a defense

 

Today in Hong Kong you have no rights

Except for the right to silence

If you want to speak or raise a sign

Beijing’s answer is always violence

 

* Found guilty of Draconian security law

   (along with thirteen others).

   

American Fascism

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

American Fascism

 

Trump is a fascist, plain and clear

There’s no way around it now

Terror is terror, fear is fear

A purple cow is still a cow

 

The man believes in one-man rule

As long as that man is him

He acts like a bully, talks like a fool

His light grows dimmer than dim

 

Yet his confidence is larger than life

His worst is better than all

If elected he will deliver strife

And the republic will surely fall

 

I’m not a fascist, you’re the one!

He will tell you at every chance

But mark my words before he’s done

Fascism is on the advance

 

It’s not too late to turn it around

But our prospects are looking slim

If in three months the market is down

The people may turn to him

 

Human Tragedies

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

Human Tragedies

 

The wasteland from Texas to Missouri

mirrors the destruction from Gaza to Ukraine.

 

One is born of a human failure to learn and

understand how separate and distinct peoples

can live together in peace.

 

The other is born of a human failure to

understand and learn how our behavior

bears tragic consequences.

 

Until we learn how to accept our differences

without wanting to destroy each other we will

continue to foment wars of growing mass

destruction.

 

Until we learn that pumping toxic waste

into our atmosphere distorts and corrupts

the natural processes of climate and extreme

weather we will continue to suffer ever greater

climate catastrophes. 

 

Differences in beliefs, religions, cultures, and

philosophies are natural and appropriate; the desire

to annihilate others and take their lands based on

those differences is unnatural, morbid and devoid

of basic humanity. 

 

Tornadoes, hurricanes and tidal waves are

natural if unfortunate; monster storms and

a chain of twisters five hundred miles long

are unnatural and a testament to human greed

and obstinacy.

 

If we are to choose humanity and nature over

greed and avarice, we must alter our behaviors

and beliefs to create a better world for all the

earth’s inhabitants.

Memorial

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Memorial

 

We remember the soldiers

who gave their lives

for a cause that’s never certain

 

Some wars are righteous and necessary

Other wars are fought for greed

Even the good wars cannot be good

on both sides of the line

 

We remember all the soldiers

for their bravery and honor though

some were neither brave nor honorable

 

The loss is as severe for all

the soldiers and civilians caught

in the crossfire of war

 

We remember them and honor them

for they could well be us

We too would want to be remembered

We too would want to be honored

 

So we give them a day and remember them

We give them a day and pray their

lives were not given in vain

 

For all lives are precious

All lives should be remembered

All should be honored

 

We remember the dead for the living

We remember the living for the dead

Sheep

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Sheep

 

A candidate in Germany steps down

After expressing sympathy for the SS –

The elite Nazi enforcement unit

 

An American candidate for president

Takes down a campaign video

Expressing admiration for The Reich

As if he didn’t understand the reference

 

The Proud Boys are the SS without

The power of the state

 

The European right is marching goosestep

With Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping

Accepting laundered money and propaganda

 

The NRA is a front for Russian money

 

One World News is a front for Russia

 

The propaganda war has begun and our side –

The side of freedom and democracy – for

there can be no freedom without democracy –

Has fallen asleep

 

Those who follow their fearless leader

Like sheep who have lost their way

Will awaken tomorrow in a nightmare

 

They too will be left behind

They will be discarded with the rest of us

For they will have lost their purpose

They placed the strongman in power

And now they are of no more use

We are vermin and they are sheep

 

Extermination (Rafah)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

Extermination (Rafah)

 

And so it begins

The final assault

Extermination of the enemy

The bombardment of the last stronghold

The laying of waste

They were cornered here like vermin

Pushed and herded here like goats

Here it ends

 

Here amidst the rubble of a once great city

Here in this landscape of destruction

Where mothers once gathered to gossip

While their children played

Where men followed footsteps to work

Where kids walked to school

Impoverished but not poor

 

Who but god and Netanyahu knew

That this would be the end …

But it is not the end

It is only another beginning

In the endless cycle of revenge