KGB

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: PUTIN

KGB (by any other name)

 

Putin led the KGB

Against all western ways

He practiced his deceptions

He tortured killed and maimed

The villains on the other side

Would never be the same

The KGB it never died

They just changed the name

 

Putin was the KGB

He went against the grain

He lacked all moral grounding

His cruelty was plain

A ruthlessness we can’t abide

The way he played the game

The KGB it never died

They just changed its name

 

The evil forces are in charge

They’re borderline insane

They want to conquer everyone

They’re efforts are in vain

They waited in the shadows

Before the darkness came

The KGB it never died

They just changed its name

 

They took hold of Crimea

Before the invasion of Ukraine

That they want to rule the world

Has become so very plain

If Putin had a conscience

He would live in constant shame

The KGB it never died

They just changed its name

 

Hang Your Head (for RFK Jr.)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Hang Your Head

 

I remember Bobby well

He gave the people hope

What a story he would tell

About his son’s descending slope

 

Bobby stood against the war

In a far-off Asian land

His son stands with Putin

As if he ever gave a damn

 

When he takes the stage with Trump

His father rises from his grave

He’s the child who craves attention

We must implore him to behave

 

You stand against your father’s will

So hang your head in shame

To the mountain you are just a hill

You’ve disgraced the family name

 

We won’t remember Bobby

For the evil that you do

For we know that he opposes

All those who stand with you

(RFK Jr. endorses Trump)

Hope Rises

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Hope Rises

 

The night belongs to hope

A memory of the past

When they dwelled in the White House

Somehow we knew it would not last

But here on this Chicago night

Our hopes begin to stir

They linger in the rafters

The thought of how things were

When a man with funny ears

And a rhythm to his step

Led with calm and dignity

A mood that never slept

He lifted us with words

He calmed us through the night

With him we always knew

It would all turn out right

So now they bring a message

That hope will always rise

When good people come together

And answer to the cry:

Freedom, hope and dignity

Comfort us once more

They speak and we remember

What we’re fighting for

 

(The Obamas at the DNC)

The Age of Fire

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

The Age of Fire

 

We are in the age of fire

Of that there is no doubt

There are consequences dire

There are no easy ways out

 

You can hope and you can pray

If it helps you to feel good

But we will have to face the day

When we must do the things we should

 

We are in the age of fire

The age of industry is done

We must raise our spirits higher

As we throw away our guns

 

There is far too much to lose

Without power hungry wars

A better way is ours to choose

We must open every door

 

To a safer way of being

A way to tame the fire beast

A way of living and of seeing

That will harm the planet least

 

Farewell Macron

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Farewell Macron

 

All of France is on hiatus

They declared an Olympic truce

But since the last Olympic cheer

Macron has worn a political noose

 

His party took a beating

While the far-right moved ahead

The people have made it clear

They’d prefer Castets instead

 

Macron has been remarkable

In the most difficult of times

But now the people want a change

For the next phase of the climb

 

It’s the way of the republic

Change is coming for us all

Those who reach the pinnacle

Must be prepared for the fall

 

So farewell Monsieur Macron

You have served your nation well

You will long be remembered

Take a bow and say farewell

Drones Over Moscow

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

Drones over Moscow

 

What goes up must come down

What moves forward will move back

What you reap will come round

The train called Payback is on track

 

There are drones over Moscow

Armed with deadly force

More than reason would allow

Ukraine will stay on course

 

Vladimir is running scared

How could such a thing occur?

It isn’t right! It isn’t fair!

Let’s go back to how things were

 

But things will not go back

Things are moving straight ahead

Ukraine will launch its next attack

Russia’s forces will be bled

 

Call off your dogs and go home

Bring your war to an end

A losing Russia stands alone

Without an ally or a friend

 

Kidnapper Nation

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RUSSIA

Kidnapper Nation

 

Some kill journalists

Putin leans to kidnapping

You don’t get much for a dead body

You get a spy and a money launderer

An assassin and a weapons dealer

For a living breathing journalist

And a Russian born dissident

Never mind that it lowers the bar

For cruel and ruthless leadership

Putin and his evil ilk

Will not hesitate to arrest, detain

And convict you of espionage

It’s what dictators do for recreation

Putin’s Russia should be added

To the list of primitive nations

And violent lawless states

Do not travel there

Do not contribute to their depravity

Russia is a rogue nation

A nation of thugs and outlaws

She has no place in the world

Of civilized nations

 

The Tradeoff

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Tradeoff

 

Politics is the art of negotiation

For every initiative there is a price

If you want order surrender freedom

If you want pasta give up some rice

 

The protesters in Chicago

Want a ceasefire yesterday

They do not seem to understand

There will be a price to pay

 

Cut off funding to Israel today

Ukraine will lose funding tomorrow

Is that a cost you’re willing to pay?

Ukraine in perpetual sorrow

 

If you set the convention on fire

You might exact a few concessions

But if your efforts turn out dire

You may learn a chilling lesson

 

Remember who your enemy is

He wears an extremely long red tie

If your purpose aligns with his

Soon enough you will wonder why

 

(on the eve of the DNC in Chicago)

Who Owns You?

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Who Owns You?

 

Ten cool mill from the Egyptian dictator

Shady real estate deals with the Saudi’s

Crooked bribes and shakedowns

Russia, China, Turkey, Hungary

The White House is for sale

 

Who owns you baby?

You demanded 40 bill from the oil industry

In exchange for ending renewable energy

You offered an end to regulation of the

Technology industry in exchange for

Unspecified billions

 

Who owns you baby?

You informed the Wall Street bankers and

Dealers that there is a price to ending the

Oversight the prevents the next great

Economic meltdown

 

Who owns you baby?

The one sure thing is that you owe nothing

To the suckers and working saps who gave

You their time, dollars and praise to get

You elected

 

You owe nothing to the militant fools

Who gave you their blood and freedom

To enforce your uprising and insurrection

 

Who owns you baby?

The big money interests who promise to

Give you riches in exchange for unspoken

Favors

World Class Liar

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

 

World Class

 

Someone you know is a world class liar

An elephant’s ass and a climate denier

Light a match and he’ll catch on fire

He will finish last from wire to wire

 

We’ll name him if we must

Take a guess, it’s Elon Musk

He’s got a prime seat on the loser’s bus

He’s with the weird, he’s not with us

 

He’s got an outrageous amount of money

That doesn’t make him smart or funny

He’s a dark, dark day when all is sunny

When he laughs it’s almost stunning

 

His friends? He doesn’t have them

He’s like a flower without a stem

Or a brand-new building that’s been condemned

He’s a robot among good men

 

His spotlight days will come and go

He’s shamed by all the things we know

He’s a curtain up without a show

His know-it-all has lost its glow

 

The Crack

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE WAR

The Crack

 

A crack in the wall of lies

The myth of Putin’s might

A blow that fate defies

A glimmering of light

 

Ukraine strikes across the border

What now can be done?

What now of Russia’s order?

A war that can’t be won

 

The crack will grow in size

A dark canyon of growing doubt

The Russian people finally rise

To demand that they get out

 

Putin’s madness is now exposed

His infallibility shattered

Remember the day Ukrainians rose

And the Russian conscripts scattered

 

Bring your forlorn soldiers home

While there’s still a chance to save face

Before your nation you stand alone

There is for you no place

 

Maduro's Betrayal

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Maduro’s Betrayal

 

Simon Bolivar was a great man

Leader of the people’s revolution

Father of Latin American democracy

He dreamed of a free continent

Where the poor were poor no more

Where the power served the people

And the people served themselves

 

After decades of betrayal

By the drivers of western wealth

The rubber, fruit and oil barons

The ones who stole their resources

And left behind a poisoned land

A leader rose in Venezuela

His name was Hugo Chavez

He held forth a dream and a promise

A revival of the Bolivarian revolution

A return of power to the people

An end to soul-crushing poverty

An embrace of true democracy

In Venezuela and beyond

 

He delivered on that dream

In some measure for a while

He delivered food and health care

He gave rise to people’s hopes

But the power of the privileged class

Forced him to compromise

He lost hold of the dream

He lost hold of his principles

He lost hold of his pride

 

The nation he handed to his successor

Was a shadow of what it was

No longer a vibrant growing country

No longer one of promise or of hope

Nicolas Maduro took the reins and

Drove the nation off a cliff

He chose the way of power

He chose the way of wealth

 

Now the people of Venezuela suffer

In hunger and desperation

Poverty of spirit and of wealth

They flee in masses to the north

Where life can be no harder than it is

 

Nicolas Maduro: Let go of your power

Let go of your wealth

Retain some semblance of your pride

Until democracy is restored

There is no hope

And the Bolivarian revolution

Is but a dream

 

Stand Up!

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Stand Up

 

Standing up for what is right is

A sacred obligation

Standing for our nation’s pride

Against discrimination

 

We see forces against the light

Standing up for hate

We fear the voices of the right

Are standing up too late

 

They’re standing all across the world

They’re standing in the streets

When good people stand together

We will hand them a defeat

 

There are more of us than them

Though they are brash and loud

Our strength is in our virtue

Together we stand proud

 

We’ll stand up for minorities

We’ll stand up for the poor

We’ll stand against oppressors

And their dirty little wars

 

(The British stand against fascism.)

 

Moving the Homeless

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: HOMELESSNESS

Moving the Homeless

 

It doesn’t matter whether you call them

The unhoused, homeless or unsheltered

The unhoused are homeless

The homeless have no shelter

 

The homeless have always been

As long as the river runs

As long as the sun rises in the east

During the Great Depression

The homeless lived in Hoovervilles

Or followed the rails in hobo camps

There were soup kitchens for the poor

There were shelters from the storm

When times got rough in one place

The cops moved them along

The railroad bulls beat them

Catch em if you can

 

We’ve come a long way since then

But the homeless are still here

In ever increasing numbers

They camped in parks until the rangers

Came around to push them out

They camped by the riverside until

The river cops pushed them out

They camped on the streets until

The street cops pushed them out

 

I don’t know what the solution is

But pushing the homeless from one

Camp to another is not an answer

It’s just a way of avoiding the question

We have a right to expect some service

Of all individuals – even the homeless –

In exchange, individuals have a right to

Expect fulfillment of basic needs

Including food and shelter

 

The Fix

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Fix

 

The fix is in

Only it ain’t the Democrats

Say what you will

Democrats don’t fix elections

Republicans do

Trump Republicans are committed to it

They’ve dedicated time and resources

To taking over local election boards

It’s always the one who cries foul the loudest

Who is most guilty of the crime

 

Three months before hand

We know what’s coming

Trump Republicans will claim victory

Regardless of the vote count

Their operatives will refuse to certify results

Trump wants the win

He wants his vindication

He wants his vengeance

He wants his retribution

Even more than victory at the polls

 

He wants a civil war

He wants to take the White House by force

He wants his minions to do it for him

You say you don’t believe me?

Wait three months and see

Or take action now to make sure

It doesn’t happen

 

Bebe's War

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

Bebe’s War

 

It is not the thing itself

It’s the timing of the thing itself

With the Middle East ready to explode

With a ceasefire in negotiations

With a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza

With Hezbollah firing rockets from Lebanon

Netanyahu orders a strike in Tehran

Inviting a broader war

A war engaging the world’s powers

 

Israel has a right to defend herself

Israel has a right to kill those responsible

For the October 7^th attack

Targeted assassination was the proper

Response to the assault

But to wait until Gaza is decimated

To wait until tens of thousands are dead

Homes, schools, hospitals destroyed

To wait for mass starvation

 

Netanyahu has left us no doubt

This war will go on and on

As long as he is still in power

This is Bebe’s war

And Bebe’s war has no end

Kara-Murza Rises

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RUSSIA

Kara-Murza Rises

 

Kara-Murza rises from his cell

He followed in Navalny’s steps

A Russian with a wicked tale to tell

Where some tease Kara-Murza leapt

 

The man has his freedom now

Give thanks to world diplomacy

He swears he’ll carry on now

The dream of Russian democracy

 

We must hope he will be well

In whatever country he chooses

Let us hope he rings that bell

Let us hope the madman loses

 

Navalny is remembered well

Kara-Murza is his voice

He rises from the depths of hell

To help his people win a choice

 

What happens next no one knows

He will work to advance the cause

Ghosts will follow wherever he goes

He must sharpen up his claws