Saturday, July 25, 2020

The Mask

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



The Mask

The man who’s never wrong
Admitted he was wrong today
He strutted into a famed hospital
And sang a different song today

He was not a happy man
You could see it in his eyes
He’d rather eat a dozen worms
Or tell a thousand lies

But he wore a mask today
And the pundits gave him praise
When they asked him why he said
Let’s see how it plays

You see it doesn’t really matter
That it would save many lives
It’s all about his favorability
And how his numbers rise

Friday, July 24, 2020

Johnny Got Covid

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Johnny Got Covid

Going back to school
Comes at a price
Johnny’s gonna get Covid
Sally’s gonna get lice

Kids will be kids
So the old folks say
It’s hard to control
How the children play

He comes home to mommy
She gives him a hug
A kiss before bedtime
Tucks him in snug

Life is a gamble
Kids are like chips
All will be well
Unless Johnny slips

Only the world’s biggest fool
Or a man without heart
Would order the schools open
Before they’re ready to start

Thursday, July 23, 2020

White Privilege

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GEORGE FLOYD SERIES



White Privilege

I have known the hand of privilege
Been forgiven for my sins
Don’t they know under the surface
I am red beneath the skin

I have advanced above my betters
Some will lose while others win
Don’t they know under the cover
I am black beneath the skin

I earned more than my fair share
Don’t know where I should begin
Don’t they realize it’s all a mask
I am brown beneath the skin

No one tells you that its wrong
Like a song below the din
You accept the solemn truth
That it’s all about the skin

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Roaches Survive

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Roaches Survive

Survival of the fittest is a two edged sword
There are times it strikes a wayward chord

For all its wonder and beauty
Nature can be unkind
It can smile on the wicked
And punish the divine
For the good may die young
And psychopaths may thrive
Butterflies perish
And roaches survive

Joy will leave too soon
And sorrow will arrive
The way of nature is logic
That seldom has rhyme

When it comes to science
Our destiny is blind
When it comes to mortality
There is so little time

But the truth will drive forward
And win in the end
We must never lose hope
We must always defend

But when it comes to survival
Just sheer brute drive
Butterflies will perish
Where roaches will thrive


Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Undocumented

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Undocumented

She was an essential worker
Producing fruit and vegetables
For your family dinner table

We sang her glory
Praised her sacrifice
Admired her honest labor
Neglecting to note
She had little choice

She did what she had to do
To put food on her own table
She was brave and strong
No one could deny
She showed up every morning
Worked until night
And took care of the kids
Every evening

She caught the virus
She did not know how
She had been cautious
(but had her kids?)
She wore a mask
(except at home)
She kept her distance
(the best she could)

Twice she went to church
To pray for the afflicted
Maybe then somehow
The laying on of hands
The shedding of tears
The close contacts

She was afraid to seek help
(and afraid not to)
She was undocumented
Would they send her home?
Would they deport her?
What would her children do?

She got sick and prayed
She closed her door and prayed
She told her kids to stay away
Until she was too weak to stop them
What else could she do?
She was undocumented
Not a person
Not a face
Just another number
Stricken by the virus
Taken by the disease

They cried for her in the barrio
They mourned her in Jalisco
They took her children in
Buried her in sacred ground
Sang of her in the cantina
Wove her into their folklore
Their culture of sacrifice
They prayed the rosary

Some say she died for being illegal
Others that she died for being poor

She was brave and strong
One country broke her heart
The other did her wrong

Monday, July 20, 2020

Gestapo in Portland

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: THE RESISTANCE



Gestapo in Portland

Unmarked soldiers in riot gear
Rounding up protesters in Portland Oregon
No charges no mandate no authority
But the political whim of the president

Desperate to prove his strength
He violates all constitutional guarantees
Ripping citizens off the streets
To establish his brutish credentials

Is this America?

Portland is a progressive city
That protects the rights of all
It is not a lawless state
It has not descended into anarchy
There are no riots in the streets
There is no absence of order
There has been no declaration
of Marshall Law

Yet the president orders
in his Gestapo troops to create
an illusion of disorder
that he can crush
like a bug underfoot

The strongman of Washington
employs the awesome power
of his office in the service of
fascist brutality

Go home Mister President
Take your stormtroopers with their
bullet proof vests and riot sticks
their rubber bullets and tear gas cannisters
and send them to a deep bunker
where they can hide their heads
in shame

This is not Moscow
This is not Tiananmen Square
This is not Chicago 1968
We are not a fascist state
And you are not Richard Nixon

Cease and desist

Sunday, July 19, 2020

Man of Honor (for John Lewis)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GEORGE FLOYD SERIES



Man of Honor

Man of honor
Man of dignity
He overcame the weight of history
To become the conscience of the people’s house

They beat him down on the Edmund Pettus Bridge
They beat him back on the bus to freedom
He spilled his blood on the long march
to the promised land
Yet he never lost hope
He carried more than his share
of his generation’s burden
Yet he always believed he would get there

He marched with King
Stood beside Jesse Jackson
and prayed with Reverend Al
He broke bread with adversaries
and converted many to friends

It is tempting to believe
it is all for nothing
John Lewis was always there
to remind us where we’ve been
and remember how far we have come

Saturday, July 18, 2020

Bolsonaro

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES


Bolsonaro


Was ever there a bigger fool than I
Under the vast Brazilian sky
I proclaimed the virus a joke
Just another liberal hoax

Now I suffer with the masses
Little children in their classes
Mothers fathers sons and nieces
Their whole world torn to pieces

They used to say if Trump was brown
Bolsonaro would hold his ground
But now we’ve turned it all around
The Brazilian smile becomes a frown

The world may say I have no shame
For Bolsonaro is my name
The brightest light in all the land
I have no light there is no band

Now I suffer by myself
I place my pride upon the shelf
My leadership no longer pretty
I spend my hours in self-pity

Friday, July 17, 2020

Black Men with Guns

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GEORGE FLOYD SERIES



Black Men with Guns

They shoot horses don’t they?
They shot panthers back in the day
Doesn’t matter what you say or do
They shoot black men with guns too

Good old boys call themselves militia
And march right up to the capitol dome
Wearing swastikas with weapons of war
They are made to feel at home

But if blacks gather in the city square
With rifles over their shoulders
They are pronounced terrorists and thugs
Their reception could not be colder

They are told they are not welcome here
Go on home and take your guns
If they refuse and claim their sacred right
They will soon be on the run

Round here black men do not carry
And they do not mix with whites
But most of all they never claim
To possess a white man’s rights

Thursday, July 16, 2020

Thirty Heroes

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GEORGE FLOYD SERIES



Thirty Heroes

To be named an American hero
should be an honor that outlasts time
To be named an American hero
by the worst president in history
is something less than honor

How would Frederick Douglass feel
knowing that this president speaks
the language of the confederacy?

How would MLK feel knowing
this president has welcomed
white supremacy to his fold
and legitimized the Klan?

There are no native Americans
on the president’s list of heroes
There are no Asians or Chicanos
though some are “good people”
There are no scientists on the list
No artists poets or resistance leaders
To not be named is a badge of honor

The mendacity of this man
to think that he can dictate
American values and American heroes
is unbounded in the chronicles of time

We shall choose our own heroes
and you shall not be among them

Wednesday, July 15, 2020

Falling

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Falling

The dream of falling
Stumbling off a cliff
Sliding into a canyon
Toppling off a tower

The earth gives way
And you spiral into the depths
An endless pathway to nothingness
A dizzy downward tumble
That never ends

You know somehow that the bottom
Is the end of all you know
The end of consciousness
The end of being
The end of dreams
The end

Only now the dream of falling
Begins when we awake
And ends when we drift
Away into the starry world
Of sleep

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Embrace

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Embrace

We used to embrace
As if to say I know you
As if to say I trust you
And you may trust me

We used to shake hands
(bare naked hand to hand)
We used to pump fists and slap shoulders
We used to let our bodies come together
To feel each other’s warmth
We used to stand in lines so close
We could feel the breath
On the back of our heads
We used to let our shoulders touch
As we found our way through a crowd
We used to dance hand in hand
Cheek to cheek with almost strangers

I remember human contact
As if it were yesterday
As if we awoke only this morning
To find that we are magnets
Charged to repel each other

We have only our memories
Of a time when we embraced
Without a second thought
Of a time we held each other’s hands
To push away our worries

Will we ever find that place again
The touch of human skin
Without fear


Monday, July 13, 2020

Corona Parties

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Corona Parties

They invite the infected to attend
Throw money in a pot
Who will get the virus first?
Who will win the lot?

Kids will be kids sins will be sins
But killing grandpa is no way to win

Are they blind to what’s happening?
Do they just not care?
Are they filled with contempt?
Do they do it on a dare?

Teenage angst is a dangerous thing
You just want to get on with it
Let your free spirit sing
It’s a passage in the game of life
It’s always been this way
But what was fine back then
Is a catastrophe today

Is it teenage angst? 
Did you do it on a dare?
Are you filled with rage?
Do you just don’t care?

I remember being young
Nothing mattered but the now
Times have changed and it’s not fair
Everyone is running scared
So take a moment to think about
For tomorrow there will be doubt


Sunday, July 12, 2020

Old Folks

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Old Folks

Old folks move to warmer climes
Like Florida and Arizona
Where they live the life
In old folks homes
And retirement communities
Playing shuffleboard and golf
Having cocktails every evening
Watching the sun go down

Communal meals and activities
Gathering for televised events
Singalongs and bingo games
Playing pinochle and bridge

What could go wrong?

Some say rebellion is for the young
But stubbornness is the way of age
Masks are for Halloween
I didn’t live my life to keep space
A little shopping couldn’t hurt
A concert or a play
A night of fun at the cinema
Dinner and dessert

At what point do we let go?
Let the old folks do what they will?
We can’t cage the aged forever
We can’t make the sun stand still

Saturday, July 11, 2020

Square One

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Square One

For a brief moment it seemed
We had it under control
We hunkered down
Sheltered in place
Recognized the threat
Protected our space

In a nightmare of misery
New York showed us the way
As our fellow citizens suffered
It was impossible to ignore
The harsh reality of pandemic
The bitter taste of death
Played out on our TV screens

Until our president stepped forward
To fight for the other side
(a side we did not know there was)
To challenge his supporters to defy
All means and measures of slowing
The viral cloud of destruction

Masks slowed the virus
Don’t wear a mask
A constitutional right
Distancing slowed the virus
To hell with distance
Open the bars and churches
Keep the meat plants running!

Everything that could be done
Was not done with relish
Even when the virus spread
Even when it spun out of control

Now we’re back to square one
And the president falls silent
Let’s move on now
And pretend it’s all a dream
We’ll snap our fingers
And make it go away
But it won’t go away
It will spread its deadly breath
Until a vaccine is ready
And another person sits
In the oval office


Friday, July 10, 2020

The Homeless Explosion

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



The Homeless Explosion

The moratorium is over
The payments coming due
And lives once lived in shelter
Will soon be tossed askew

A global pandemic
An exposition of police violence
A demand for racial justice
Mass protests on the streets
And now a homeless explosion

What heartless landlords
Could toss tenants to the streets
In times such as these?

What heartless mindless government
Could allow such a thing?

The same landlords who jacked up rent
During the great recession

The same government that fought
Harder against masks
Than it did against the virus

The same government that swore
It would all vanish in the spring
Like a bad dream

The homeless explosion is coming
And the virus is still here
Waiting for the huddled masses
To breathe the toxic air