Sunday, August 02, 2020

Solitude

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES


Solitude

 

In the misty haze of solitude

A change has enveloped my soul

I am no longer who I was

In the lost days of plenty

In the days we thought

Would last forever

 

I felt I needed no one then

I was an island in a flowing river

I had my love my family my closed

Circle of friends my chosen few

 

My circle is open now

Like blossoms in the heart of spring

I have discovered interdependency

While mortality has discovered me

 

In the solitude of forced confinement

The circles have found new order

The layers of protection break away

The layers of deception shatter

 

We are all fragile beings

In the loneliness of night

Yearning for connection

Yearning for common bonds

Yearning to understand

And to be understood

 

In the crisis of forced solitude

We are all the same

We want we need we hurt

We are vulnerable and exposed

Reaching for hands beyond our reach

Pleading for those we need

Saturday, August 01, 2020

Still

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES


Still

 

The air is still

Like a silence of the soul

No gentle summer breeze

To soothe our restless spirits

To comfort us with ease

 

The waves of heat bear down

To take away our breaths

We count the days by numbers

By days we count the deaths

 

The earth itself is sickened

By the state of our affairs

It’s so hard to feed the spirit

When you can’t bring yourself to care

 

The wind has howled long and hard

The rain has hammered home

The sun beats down in cries of fate

The very heavens exasperate

 

We may as well spell the wind

As wait for better days

 

The air grows still

Take comfort where you will

Friday, July 31, 2020

Civil War

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: THE RESISTANCE


Civil War

 

Never before has a commander in chief

Declared war on American cities

 

Communities beware

Federal troops are coming to your town

To terrify your people

Teargas your mayor

Pummel your protesters

And send waves of fear

Through the suburban nation

 

By virtue of his supreme intellect

He declares your city a terror zone

A bastion of subversive thugs

A pit of moral depravity

A magnet for scum and criminals

 

People of Portland take heed

People of Albuquerque beware

People of Kansas City take warning

People of Chi Town watch out

The troops are coming

To explain what it’s all about

 

There’s an election down the road

And he’s a law and order man

A failure at everything he’s touched

So on this he’ll make a stand

 

He does not care who is harmed

If you dare stand in his way

He needs the television footage

To prove our state of decay


Thursday, July 30, 2020

False Dichotomy

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES


False Dichotomy

 

Save the economy sacrifice lives

Save lives and sacrifice the economy

Suffer a headache or have a lobotomy

Plain and simple: a false dichotomy

 

Fools and small children

Only see the here and now

The day beyond today does not exist

Immediate gratification is all there is

We cannot see the forest for the trees

Rust for the junkyard

Mules for the donkeys

Waves for the seven seas

 

Be here now is a fine saying

But it has definite limits

Looking forward has its place

The future of the human race

 

Forced to choose between

hardship and sorrow

Bad choices will be made

The wise will find another way

 

Forced to choose between

today and tomorrow

The child will always choose today

The wise will choose tomorrow

and tomorrow beyond the day

 

The only way to secure the economy

Is to tend to the virus first

In sacrificing lives to save the markets

We sacrifice both and secure the worst

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Brain Fog

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Brain Fog

The face on TV
WHAT’S HIS NAME
Had Covid two or three months ago
HIS BROTHER IS THE GOVERNOR
His symptoms linger on
HE WEARS HIS COURAGE
Among them brain fog
INSIDE HIS FEAR
He tells me
HE HIDES HIS FEAR
It may never go away
INSIDE HIS CONFIDENCE
Fear and rage take my place
WHAT IF?
It never goes away
IT NEVER GOES AWAY?
What cruel fate is this?
HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN A FACE?
Twenty million strong and counting
HOW DO YOU STAY STRONG?
Lost in a fog of tangled dendrites
KNOWING YOU HAVE LOST FOREVER
An endless maze of uncertainty
THAT WHICH MADE YOU
Knowing you will never again know
YOU
You

(the president says the virus
is 99% harmless)

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Acceptable Loss

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Acceptable Loss

The old normal has gone away
We adjust our expectations
Increase our hospital capabilities
Improve our medications

We don’t believe the news we’re fed
We go our separate ways
We no longer follow where we’re led
If it means the end of days

We’re finally learning from other nations
They’ve managed so much better
It’s not all about the money
There are debts and there are debtors

We’re starting up the schools again
Without heeding to the boss
We need to make the classroom safe
While defining acceptable loss

We smell the toxic air
The problems we’ve ignored
We know it’s neither right nor fair
We’ve faced it all before

The new normal is a calculation
An unbearable equation
How many will we sacrifice
To normalize the nation

Monday, July 27, 2020

The Wall

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: THE RESISTANCE



The Wall

Graffiti on a battered wall:
On this ground the fascists fall!

The stormtroopers are geared up
And primed to come your way
Teargas and riot sticks
Helmets and vests
Camouflage uniforms leather boots
Goggles masks and night vision
Like they had in Fallujah
In another time and place
Line em up and fire away
MAGA hats are standing tall
Everyone else against the wall!

Anarchists do you hear
Anti-fascists filled with fear
Longhairs blacks rainbows browns
Brace yourselves you’re going down
People who still read books
Students in college towns
Run hide and don’t be found
Prepare ye for the fall
Line em up against the wall!

We’ve seen this horrid act before
(the states of Kent and Jackson)
It’s how the politicians score
(and how they justify their actions)
Create the violence they abhor
(and gage the media traction)
Then mend the lace they tore

It’s a blood sport and they’re on the road
Stirring trouble everywhere they go
Appearing nightly on the evening news
A smashing action show

Sunday, July 26, 2020

Systemic Failure

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES



Systemic Failure

The rich got richer
The working folks barely got by
The poor became hungry and homeless
Too many old folks had nowhere to die

Then the pandemic hit

Any poor man’s mechanic can tell you
When a machine begins to sputter
You’ve only got so many miles
You can rig it and wrap it in duct tape
But it won’t take many more trials

Then the pandemic hit

We had a problem with inequality
And elected a white supremacist
We failed to house the homeless
And chose a man who did not care
The oceans were already rising
So we sanctified poison air
We sacrificed healthcare and schools
By handing it over to fools

Then the pandemic hit

The problems of all humanity
Bordered on the end of days
We needed a bonafide savior
So we went the other way

Then the pandemic hit

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