While We Looked Away

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GAZA

While We Looked Away

 

Obsessed with the president’s age

And a failed assassination

A celebration on the stage

A christening of the nation

And while we looked away

The Gaza annihilation

Accelerated every day

 

This is how our world runs

The revolving cycle of the news

That which titillates and stuns

It comes in threes and twos

And when we look away

We never have a clue

The ghouls come out to play

It’s sad but it is true

 

Keep your eyes on the prize

The demons never rest

Through all the righteous lies

We will welcome our new guest

And while we look away

The destruction of Gaza

Proceeds every day

 

Like a story from a tragic book

A tale of blood and rage

We do not want to look

At the horrors of our age

So when we look away

We know what they will do

In Gaza and Ukraine

It’s sad but it is true

A Graceful Exit

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

A Graceful Exit

 

A great actor knows how to make

A stunning entrance and a graceful exit

A great politician knows when and how

To leave the stage

 

Thank you for your service, sir

Thank you for your devotion

Thank you for understanding now

Without fear or emotion

 

The time has come to pass the torch

To your loyal vice president

She has a greater chance now

Of holding down the residence

 

You know in your heart of hearts

It is time to step down

The stakes are much too large

Time to take the higher ground

 

You’ve had a phenomenal career

Now take a bow with grace

We will always in our hearts

Reserve for you a sacred place

 

(Note: Biden steps down; endorses

Kamala Harris.)

Manchurian Candidate

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Manchurian Candidate

 

“I don’t really care what happens to

Ukraine.”  J.D. Vance

 

The man has no backbone

No conviction or restraint

In his grand quest for power

A man of principle he ain’t

 

He once stood for justice

And the American way

But the man he once was

Is not the man he is today

 

He has sold his very soul

For a chance at that ring

He would eat a lump of coal

He would do anything

 

He would kiss the man’s boot

If there is something to gain

It took him less than a second

To sacrifice Ukraine

 

He will bow to the Don

The Don bows to the Vlad

As for our democracy

The prognosis is bad

 

Cogs in the Machine

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Cogs in the Machine (Project 2025)

 

They will transform the Department of

Justice into an army of revenge

They will outlaw abortion everywhere

They will bring the bible into the schools

They will ban affirmative action

They will make alternative lifestyles illegal

They will sanction discrimination against

Nonwhites and non-Christians

They will make it hard to vote for

Anyone who is not white

They will mobilize the National Guard

To beat back protesters

They will replace civil servants with

Political sycophants

They will dismantle the Environmental

Protection Agency

They will step back and watch the ravages

Of global climate change

They will encourage the dissemination of

High-powered weaponry

They will be the cogs in the machine that

Enable the government to function

They will stand by as the system crashes

And the nation descends into chaos

They will step back with a wry grin

As the world follows into madness

 

Symbolic Action

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: SUPREME COURT

Symbolic Action

 

It may only be symbolic

But it sets the record straight

These Supreme Court Justices

Are filled with righteous hate

 

They hate the common laborers

For being who they are

For wanting decent wages

For wanting an affordable car

 

They hate the world of women

For wanting the rights of men

They’ve sworn to have their vengeance

For having to fight for their rights again

 

They hate people of color

For demanding equal treatment

For standing up against brutality

For supporting an impeachment

 

They hate honest journalists

For exposing their corruption

In receiving several fortunes

Yielding to wealth’s seduction

 

(AOC drafts articles of impeachment

against Alito and Thomas of the

Supreme Court.)

 

Life Lost in Butler PA

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

Life Lost in Butler PA

 

Someone lost his life today

In Butler Pennsylvania

It was not the one intended

An innocent bystander

A participant in the process

An engaged citizen

For better or for worse

Collateral damage.

 

The former president survived

A nick in the ear

Some say he invited it

Some say he brought it on himself

He swore vengeance on his enemies

He incited a full-scale riot

But no one deserves to die

For his or her political beliefs

Even if those beliefs inspire violence

Even if those beliefs are abhorrent

Political violence must be condemned

The age of violence must end

In a civilized society

We elect a president

We do not kill our adversaries

 

A Moral Dilemma

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

A Moral Dilemma (Conscription)

 

To defend one’s nation from a foreign

invader is above all a righteous cause

But military conscription without

exemption defies all moral laws

 

Without doubt Ukraine is in desperate need

Their enemy lacks all moral restraint

Our soul cries out, our conscience bleeds

We pray to the heavens for a warrior saint

 

But conscription is not the answer

It betrays all sense of the good and right

To a righteous cause it is a cancer

You cannot answer right with might

 

We cannot know what the future holds

We can only hope the good prevails

We pray our side is strong and bold

That the wind will bless our sails

 

As we charge into this windswept sea

Let us always yield to the right and true

For what we dream is what will be

And what we are is what we do

 

Don't Swim in the Seine

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RIVER SERIES

Swimming in the Seine

 

There are many things that you can do

Like singing in the rain

Like driving down a lonely road

Or strolling down a country lane

You can take a trip to Iceland

You can spend some time in Spain

You can say or do a million things

And do them once again

But you can’t swim in the Seine

 

For the river is a toxic stew

It would surely make you ill

You might survive the poisoning

If you take a magic pill

You might do it if you dared

But the wiser will refrain

There’s a world of awe in Paris

It’s a place where one has been

But don’t swim in the Seine

 

You can walk down Champs Elysees

You can visit Musee d’Orsay

Bow down before the Arc de Triomphe

Pay your respect to Notre Dame

You cannot miss la Tour Eiffel

Nor the grace of Pere Lachaise

The Louvre is filled with wonders

You can share them with a friend

But you can’t swim in the Seine

 

Day of Change

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

Day of Change

 

What will we do when the lights go out?

When the grid no longer holds?

Will we find a place to hide away?

Or has our refuge since been sold?

 

What will we do when the lakes go dry?

When the rivers no longer flow?

Will we steal away our water supply?

Will we pack our bags and go?

 

A day of change is coming

We can feel it in the air

The ties that bind have come undone

It is much too much to bear

 

Will we sacrifice our decency?

Our sense of right and wrong?

Will we cast aside our dignity?

Have we known it all along?

 

That day of change is coming

The pounding of the sun

Best settle in the best we can

There is no place to run

 

France is France Again

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

France is France Again

 

The voice of France has risen

France is France again

A unity of disparate parties

Has defeated Marine Le Pen

 

There’s a lesson in this for all of us

Who are facing a similar choice

The way to defeat the extremist right

Is to find a united voice

 

They vilify the “others”

They exploit the people’s fears

They claim to have the answers

As the end of days draws near

 

But there answer is a power grab

That elevates their own

They dismantle your republic

And build a fascist throne

 

All of France can celebrate

But we must stand on guard

It’s easy to lose democracy

Maintaining it is hard

 

Strange Times

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Strange Times

 

The vagaries of changing clime

Wars in desperate lands

We place ourselves in other’s hands

These are the strangest times

 

We’re looking for someone to lead

Out of this wilderness

Someone who knows to plant a seed

To guide us with finesse

 

The end of our democracy

We’re on the edge of falling

Welcome to autocracy!

The ghost of Hitler calling

 

We’re living in the strangest days

We hope we will survive

Too late to learn another way

The hard times have arrived

 

But no one will give up the fight

On that you can depend

We have a sense of wrong and right

We’ll fight until the end

 

American King

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

American King

 

He can do anything he wants to do

He can lock her up

He can make lies true

He’s the master and we’re the slaves

He could have his name engraved

On the Statue of Liberty

On the Emancipation Proclamation

On the constitution of the nation

 

America! Of thee I sing!

All hail the American King!

 

I never thought I’d see the day

When we’d sacrifice our rights

When we’d throw it all away

And sail into an endless night

We’ve place him on a throne

So now we stand alone

We pray for his benevolence

For we’ve lost our independence

 

America! Of thee I sing!

All hail the American King!