RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES
Learning to Laugh Again
A deadly barrage
A relentless wave
Sorrow upon sorrow
Blue upon blues
A shotgun blast
A plague of locusts
A scourge of misfortune
A midnight triple bill of horror
The little tramp walks into a bar
Tips his hat and stumbles
Head over heels
Heels over head
And back again
He retrieves his hat
Straightens his lapel
And plops himself down
As if nothing happened
Learning to laugh again
Begins with a smile
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR
Starting Over
The caterpillar becomes the butterfly
The seed becomes the exquisite rose
The mewling infant becomes the artist
The stumbling fawn becomes the doe
Everything in nature begins again
The bud blossoms into full glory
The vast sand land springs to vivid life
The deadly storm yields to calm waters
The raging sun becomes the night
Everything in nature is reborn
The lowly pauper becomes the prince
The wicked sinner becomes a saint
The simple maiden becomes a princess
What is in spades becomes what ain’t
Everyone deserves a new beginning
Everything must be reborn
As everything in nature is becoming
So everyone in life can be transformed
(regards to John Lennon)
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES
The Year of Two Twenties
A year of bitter fruit and bitter harvest
A harsh and twisted sister
A harbinger of darkness
She came too soon and never left
Leaving souls lost and hearts bereft
A year of malady and discontent
Of clouds that would not lift
Of rain that punished without end
Never breathing never cleansed
Fire drought and pestilence
Our energy is spent
A year of social uprising
We wonder will it be the moment?
We wonder was it worth the price?
The gatherings so many lives
Deepening the great divide
Compelling us to choose sides
The year of twenties ends with hope
A little longer we must cope
Wearing masks and keeping distance
Washing hands with soap
Born in innocence it ends in infamy
Like Shakespeare’s Gloucester:
There is no creature loves me
And if I die no soul shall pity me
Goodbye year of twenties
May we never meet again
You demanded our attention
But it’s time for you to end
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES
The Shadow of Christmas
The shadow of Christmas has fallen
On a tired and weary nation
The virus has metastasized
Like a deadly invocation
The holidays raised our spirits
And stimulated our senses
But in its wake it’s sad to say
It weakened our defenses
So now we face the consequence
Of Christmas cheer and sharing
We watch the virus soar and spread
And fear we’ll lose our bearing
The question we must ask ourselves:
Was it worth the cost?
So much pain and suffering
So many lives we’ve lost
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR
Vengeance
Vengeance is the seed of evil deeds
Even more so than hate or greed
To seek vengeance is to forego grief
So that sorrow vengeance feeds
We all suffer loss and heartbreak
We feel that vengeful yearning
But our wiser selves will overcome
To understand our need for learning
For vengeance feeds more vengeance
And violence is answered in kind
Until the whole world is set ablaze
And virtues fall behind
Far better to let our anger go
To let it run its course
Than to get entangled in a maze
And mired in remorse
We place our faith in knowing
That justice will find a way
The guilty will be punished
That dog will have its day
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES
The China Problem
The world is safer when we are friends
But that on human rights depends
You cannot crush freedom of speech
Yet privileged status in trade beseech
When you imprison honored journalists
Your government is disgraced
To all leaders that engage such acts
Stern consequence must be faced
For all nations must uphold
The basic tenets of civilization
Those who fail so blatantly
Should face free trade revocation
We demand justice for Zhang Zhan
We demand she be set free
For the greater good of all nations
For the advancement of humanity
(Zhang Zhan sentenced to four years
in prison for reporting on the virus.)
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CHRISTMAS
Music City
I remember Christmas in Nashville
A city bursting with excitement
Where every person you met
Was a singer or a song
Where country paid the rent
But every kind of muse was alive
I remember the poetry scene
(down on Second Street as I recall)
Dancing to a hard rock beat
Paying tribute to the bards of old
And the beats of San Francisco
Infused with jazz rock and folk
A town that welcomed all to its fold
I remember Nashville in the round
A city of dreams and dreamers
Characters in search of a story
Singers in search of a song
Poets in search of rhyme
Nashville at Christmas time
When everyone put their dreams aside
And embraced the spirit of being
A spirit of sharing and giving
A spirit of friendship and trust
To see it all come crashing down
At the hands of some random madman
Is almost beyond forgiving
(an early morning explosion stuns
Nashville on Christmas 2020)
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES
Mutation
Just when we thought
It would come to an end
Here comes a mutation
And the message it sends
Lock down your business
Get back in you homes
Two Horsemen are riding
Begin a new tome
Will there come three?
Will there come four?
The people are frightened
Scared to the core
Is there no mercy?
No help from above?
Have we run out of chances?
Is there no love?
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR
Song of Solstice (Winter is Here)
The days become short and the nights so long
Our hearts are ringing with the sound of song
A northern chill has invaded the air
A winter darkness sweeps us in its lair
We have no true longing to venture out
Deep winter shadows fill our minds with doubt
Frost covers the ground and the air grows still
The marrow of bones senses winter’s chill
The season of death descends upon all
The heavens in mourning after the fall
We burrow ourselves inside our warm homes
And give thanks to all we are not alone
We endure this winter of discontent
And contemplate where our adventures went
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES
Joy
Let all hardship and worry go
Today is a day of joy
It is a time of winter wonder
For children and their toys
Let go the lingering discontent
Let go the tears of rage
Forgive betrayal and transgression
On vengeance turn the page
Tonight there is no sorrow
There is no fear or dread
There is only cheer and happiness
As we lay our heads to rest
Tomorrow we awaken
To a world of many wonders
A world where joy and faith
Cast misery asunder
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES
Hunger in America
Hunger in America has always been
Denial is the American way
Food insecurity is a euphemism
Like eccentricity for madness
It does not describe the truth
The way a stomach tightens
In the throes of hunger
It does not describe
How the mind fogs over
And all thought centers on food
It does not describe
The shame of mothers and fathers
When a child goes hungry at night
Hunger is like a drug addiction
It gnaws at your humanity
It drags you to the gutter
It makes you plead
Like a common beggar
It transforms you into someone
You no longer know
So don’t belittle it with euphemism
Its name is hunger
It is one step short of starvation
It is a time of desperate yearning
(an estimated 35 to 50 million Americans
will experience hunger during the pandemic)
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: NATIVE JUSTICE
Free Peltier
Now that you’ve broken new ground
Appointing a native American
To the council of the Great White Fathers *
An injustice remains to be righted
The last prisoner of the Indian wars
The last heart buried at Wounded Knee **
A man of Lakota blood and pride
Remains in a white man’s cage
Suffering the ravages of disease
Humbled by the indignities of age
Leonard Peltier cries out once again ***
With what was a young man’s rage:
Let me walk once more on native soil
Let me stand once more free and brave
Admit no wrong if it pleases you
Show compassion if you will
But let me not spend another minute
For the men I did not kill
(* Deb Haaland was nominated to serve
in the Biden cabinet. ** The Siege of
Wounded Knee 1973. *** Imprisoned
in 1977, he is 76 today.)
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES
Christmas is Canceled
All the children are bundled
In their bright Christmas best
From the wise in the east
To the jolly Midwest
From the churches down south
To the folks in their vests
We’re all ready to celebrate
A holiday fest
But the man in the kingdom
Whom they call the premier
Interrupts the good tidings
And all the great cheer
He looks straight in the camera
And says with a tear
Haven’t you heard?
Christmas is canceled this year
My oh my what a fright
What a terrible thing
The children can’t play
And the angels can’t sing
Our Santa’s can’t jolly
And the bells dare not ring
There are no more elves
No flying reindeer
Christmas is canceled this year
But out of the darkness
And into the light
The spirit of Christmas
Comes into sight
It soothes all the children
And says do not fear
Christmas is in the heart this year
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES
Intentional Negligence
To all who lost loved ones to Covid-19
Does it help to know their intentions
To infect the young and healthy
To encourage the viral spread
To achieve herd immunity
To secure a second term?
Does it help to know they didn’t mean
To kill the vulnerable and elderly?
Does it help to know they didn’t care?
Whether intentional or folly
They did their best to spread it around
To infect as many as they could
To keep the markets thriving
Until Election Day
After that who knows?
It no longer mattered
It was all about the man on top
The man in the golden mirror
The man with a deep psychological need
To best the best and stay in power
The man of every hour
No matter how many died
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS
From Moscow with Love
You poisoned Navalny
We tracked the killer down
You hacked our institutions
We spread the word around
You delivered a puppet president
Whom you ruled from up above
Now you bid us a fond farewell
From Moscow with love
You have many of our secrets
And access to the rest
Someday when it matters
You’ll deliver us a test
How much will we offer
When push comes to shove
Chechnya and Ukraine?
From Moscow with love
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES
Without Fear
Should I walk through this life
Without fear without worry
Should I walk a long road
Never doubt never hurry
In these trying times I’ve learned
Without fear I would not survive
Without a healthy dose of doubt
I would likely not be alive
Fear leads me away from danger
Doubt keeps me safe at home
It is a time that values caution
It is not a time to roam
So let the singer praise the valiant
Who bravely cast their lives away
I will praise the cautious ones
Who bravely choose to stay
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL JUSTICE
The Execution of Ruhollah Zam
The execution of Ruhollah Zam
Lands a death blow to Iran
In its hopes to restore relations
Between Tehran and western nations
Whatever hopes we might have had
Have gone to worse from bad
Iran must walk a lonely road
For violating a moral code
Journalists thou shall not kill
For if you do good nations will
Abandon you on every path
Gifting you our righteous wrath
We must assure a price to pay
To advance there is no other way
If you defy most basic rights
We must oppose you in this fight
RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES
Corona Christmas
When I was young and brave
I dreamed of being a troubadour
A writer of dreams
A man of letters
A poet and master creator
A man of substance and means
I rode that dream to faraway lands
Where art and artists reigned
Where everything was novel
Where everyone had character
Where no one had plans
Beyond tomorrow
I remember Christmas
Far from my home
No family no friends
On Christmas alone
The dream slowly faded
Like the end of a story
I grabbed my moment
and then it was gone
I awakened surrounded
by family and friends
But I wonder at times
When did the dream end?
I remember Christmas
So far from my home
No friends no family
On Christmas alone
Now I’m back in a dream
Locked down in my home
No family no friends
On Christmas alone
(NYC circa 1975)
