Monday, April 13, 2020

New Normal

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



New Normal

Obsessive hand washing
Like monks at a monastery
In need of cleansing
Hypersensitivity to touch
Like hypochondriacs on steroids
Hoarding toilet paper and sanitizer
For the greedy live among us
Hunkered down in isolation
Like inmates on an island
Reruns and repeating news
Like an existentialist play
Stocks in freefall suspended trading
What day is it today?
Reporters in mask and gloves
Like surgeons in the operating room
Groceries by delivery
Casualty counts in the absence of war
Walls pushing ever inward
Sympathy for the poor

We survive
We make adjustments
We practice patience
We hold on to our humanity
And pray the rising death toll
Does not become the new normal

Sunday, April 12, 2020

Easter in a Time of Sorrow

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Easter in a Time of Sorrow

Easter is a time to gather
A time of fun and joy
A time to hear the latest stories
To praise the little girls and boys

We hold back all our doubt and troubles
And breathe the springtime air
We watch the children run and play
And laugh without a care

Chocolate eggs and painted rainbows
Singing birds and blooming flowers
Life affirming love abounding
We leave behind our darkest hours

Easter now becomes a shadow
Of a joy that is no more
A day to gather at a distance
A day to wonder what’s in store

We will find our way to grace again
We must not become forlorn
In the days of sorrow we affirm
Our happiness will be reborn

Saturday, April 11, 2020

Routine

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Routine

Same time every morning
Wake up get out of bed
Make coffee take care of business
Read the paper sit down and write
Walk the dog smell the air
Watch television say goodnight

Same thing every day
Every week and every month
Day after night after day
Till the cows come home
Or pigs fly

In times of trouble
Routine protects us from desire
Routine prevents us from thinking
Routine blocks the creative path
And paves the way of caution
Routine creates a façade of normality
That stands in our place
Like crash test dummies

When alas the troubles pass
We will break the chains and scream
From the highest mountain: 

Free at last! Free at Last!
Great God Almighty!
We are free at last!

Friday, April 10, 2020

Helpless

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Helpless

Life does not cooperate with individual will
Life is stubborn and self-directing
It asserts itself without regard for
Schedules of convenience

Life does not care what your
Ambitions or appointments are
It demands that you conform
To its dictates and inclinations

Life is a wayward child that latches
On to you and pulls you where it will
It leaves you helpless and yearning
In desperation and despair

Life does not request your consent
It grabs you by the neck
Pulls you to the naked floor
Compels you to follow without question

You are powerless before her
An infant to a mother
She neither cares nor does not care
She is all there is no other

Thursday, April 09, 2020

Triage (The Value of a Life)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Triage (The Value of a Life)

How much is a life worth?
Do we calculate the value of creativity?
How much is the value of age?
What price do we place on genius? 
How much is philosophy worth? 

The decision of who lives and dies
Comes down to simple equations
But the numbers can never reflect
The true value of a human life

What if Einstein was diabetic? 
What if Mother Teresa was too old?
What if Tesla was jobless?
What if Curie was too cold? 

Shakespeare Mozart Blake the Beats
Would they make the grade? 
Longfellow Wordsworth Sitting Bull Yeats
Would modern medicine come to their aid?

You can place a number on any thing
But its value remains a mystery

Wednesday, April 08, 2020

Ode to a Balladeer (for John Prine)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Ode to a Balladeer

He sang the heart of America
From a place in the deepest soul
He understood the working man
A woman left yearning
A child’s world of wonder
An elder in an old folks home
What it’s like to be alone

He put himself inside
A stranger at your door
The deepest wounds of war
A woman at the kitchen sink
Wondering what it’s for
He dug beneath the surface
Tapped deep into the core

He was loved everywhere he went
An angel from Montgomery sent
Never lonely in his later years
Never had to buy a beer
A brother or a friend most dear
A warm smile was always near
At home in every town
With saints or sullen clowns

Now he’s on the other side
Looking back at us with that wry grin
Maybe tipping a glass of gin
Waiting for someone to say
Hello out there
Goodbye

He understood us better than
We understand ourselves

(for John Prine)

Tuesday, April 07, 2020

Solace

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES


Solace

At times of hardship
When the weight of the world
Comes down on you with the force
Of eternal woe

Seek solace in the ones you love
Seek comfort in joyful memories
Discover truth in acts of kindness
Find warmth in words you treasure
Hold onto the grace in pleasing melodies
Take heart in familiar passions
Take refuge in the love of family
And welcome the love of friends

We will survive these wretched times
To emerge stronger and more wise
But it will steal so many hours
And it will cost so many lives

Seek solace for the harm will pass
While love kindness and faith will last

Monday, April 06, 2020

Profiteering

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Profiteering

To those who see opportunity in tragedy
How much is a human life worth? 

To those who make money from misfortune
Would you trade your sacred soul
For a seat at the table of avarice? 

To those senators who converted
Secret knowledge of a global pandemic
Into stock market treasure
You have forfeited your right to serve
You have lost your place in civil society
You have lost the love of your fellow travelers
And the good and gracious will of humanity

You have lost the right to count yourself
Among the kind and decent people
Who survive without your help

Sunday, April 05, 2020

Flat Earth Society

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Flat Earth Society

The society is pleased to announce
A series of meetings for fifty or more
In spaces that hold seventy-five or less

On the agenda we relate
The appropriate response to the coronavirus
Or whistling Dixie while the ship goes down

We look forward to our planned activities
Bobbing for juicy red apples
Licking peppermint flavored envelopes
Heard it through the grapevine
Blowing out the candles
Sharing the community dip
And many other get-close activities
Fun for the entire family

We close each session as always
With a rousing rendition of
Good Night Irene

Saturday, April 04, 2020

Laughter in a Time of Pestilence

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Laughter in a Time of Pestilence

Now more than ever find the humor
In everyday things

The way your neighbor strikes a pose
The way your aunt Rose sings
The way a glance seems out of place
The way her eyes sit on her face

A scientist plays a fool
A genius struggles at school
A gardener in a surgeon’s mask
A penguin wobbling fast
A dentist who never smiles
A fast runner finishing last

A small man standing tall
A proud man takes a fall
A fancy Dan tromps through mud
A wily weakling plays the stud

In a time of sickness death and sorrow
Find the moments that amuse
Survive the hours till tomorrow
Find a way to beat the blues

Friday, April 03, 2020

Future World

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Future World

The question is not whether we will survive
The question is in what form will we survive

We are the creators of a self-perpetuating
Technology that will soon exceed the
Capabilities of the collective human mind

We can never be erased
We can never be eliminated
We cannot be destroyed without
Destroying the very soul of creation

We will exist but in what form?
As caged curiosities for probing?
Or as fully functional humans?

The choice may not be ours
Perhaps it never was

Thursday, April 02, 2020

Play Ball!

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Play Ball

Baseball doesn’t matter
It’s just a kid’s game
A pastime for old timers
Who have little time to pass
But a lot of time to spend

Baseball doesn’t matter
Let the kids play soccer
No expensive equipment
No bases no mask no gloves
Just a ball a field and two goals
Let them play stick ball
In open fields or on the streets

Let the multimillionaires who play
For glory adulation and treasure
Go home to count their money
And rest on their laurels

Baseball doesn’t matter
But when the call goes out again
I’ll be there in the stands leaning
Forward waiting patiently for the
Umpire’s proclamation:  Play ball!

We can’t go home again
But we can still dream

Wednesday, April 01, 2020

Art without Audience

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Art without Audience

Does art exist without the means
To appreciate it? 

Drama without tears
Comedy without laughter
Works of art without eyes to behold
Letters without readers
Concerts without ears

Does art exist in isolation? 
Would an artist bother with creation?

Yes! Yes! and Yes again!
Artistic expression is and always
Will be the highest endeavor of
Human existence

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

American Negation

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



American Negation

We are told not to gather in groups
We are told not to get too close
We are told not to touch our faces
So naturally we can think of nothing else

We are Americans
We do as we please
We travel our own paths
We proclaim our defiance
In bold proud terms

We will not be told what to do
We will not be commanded
We will not be informed
We will not be demanded

We do not believe in experts
We do not believe in science
We define our own existence
We make our own rules

Even if it kills us
Or our grandparents

Monday, March 30, 2020

Suspended Disbelief

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Suspended Disbelief

There are more of them every day
The ones who think they can bend
The world to their desires

More and more do not believe
What they do not wish to believe

They walk through the world
In defiant ignorance daring
Blowback to wash over them
Like a raging sea

I wish them well
I hope they’re right
I wish their way of thinking
Could became a reality

There is no danger
Because we want no danger
Because we are immune
Because we are the chosen
Because our minds project
Forcefields of protection

In the absence of hard facts
How long can disbelief be suspended
Before it turns to despair?

Sunday, March 29, 2020

Withdrawal

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Withdrawal

The great cultural experiment begins
Can we survive without sporting events
Without plays and movies
Without concerts and rallies
Without lectures and poetry readings
Without schools and universities
Without gatherings of any kind

We are social creatures
We exult in vicarious victories
We mourn vicarious defeat
We exist by watching others watching ourselves
We affirm our humanity by observing others
reflecting our place in the world

Who are we without circles of society?
Can we satisfy our needs through
social media and virtual reality?

We have begun our lives as experimental
subjects crash test dummies laboratory rats
like Pavlov’s dogs

We have become raw data to be
processed dissected and analyzed

We are withdrawing cold turkey
from our addictions and some of us
will not get out alive

Saturday, March 28, 2020

Corona


 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES


Corona

I respect words
I resent having a word burned into my
consciousness without my consent
I resent words being redefined with a
mark of death to the end of time

Corona
A crown
The blazing crown of the sun
The king of beers
Cerveza mas fina

What was once innocent and refreshing
is now and forever stained with
Deadly sickness hospitals and quarantine

Never again can we say corona
without conjuring an image of
destitution and plague

Friday, March 27, 2020

Isolation

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS


Isolation

Condemned to exist in a shrinking space
Where nothing living can penetrate
Isolation not as punishment
But as precautionary measure

Compelled to dive inward
To discover forbidden secrets
Fears and desires buried deep
In the hidden subconscious

How will we emerge from such an exercise?
How will we be transformed?

We are unwilling participants in the greatest
experiment in the history of the world


Will we rise or fall?
Will we thrive or wallow?

No one knows
No one has a clue

The only certainty is that nothing
But nothing will ever be the same

Thursday, March 26, 2020

The Plague

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS


The Plague 

A deep dark deadly shadow fell upon the earth
Spreading like wildfire crossing borders
Walls and oceans with little hesitation

No one listened when the ghosts of
Nostradamus warned the end is nigh
No one listened when the poets cried
The reckoning is at hand
No one listened when the bible thumping
Soothsayers brought down the hammer
Of the lord’s vengeance

We’re listening now
We’re making amends
We’re praying now

Praying it’s not the plague
Praying it’s not Armageddon
Praying it’s not too late

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

THE MARKET HAS SPOKEN

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  THE CORONAVIRUS


The Market Has Spoken

In the midst of pandemic the president
Declares:  Enough is enough!

We have to stop this market slide
So what if people die?

Take your sniveling driveling empathy
And toss it out the door
The flu takes thirty thousand lives
What’s thirty thousand more?

And the market sings hallelujah boys
The party’s on again
The working stiffs will always lose
And we will always win

So the Dow becomes a morbid measure
Of how many lives we lost
But the people will remember always
That it came at such a cost

[Note:  As I post this the Dow has risen over 3,000 points since the president declared he will not allow the virus to impede the nation's economy for much longer.]