The Rhine (River Series)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RIVER SERIES

 

The Rhine

 

The river that gives life to Berlin

The beating heart of the German nation

River of castles and fortifications

Where the Romans claimed their empire

 

The Rhine has grown angry and proud

Determined to have its revenge

The only way it knows how

It rises to claim the land beneath homes

Beneath buildings bridges and towns

The people are at her mercy

They run for cover

They plead for help

They pray for survival

 

When the river is angry

The people listen

There will be no comfort

It will not be fine

Til they make their peace

With the River Rhine

 

Covid's Friend

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Covid’s Friend

 

People of Florida:

Is this what you wanted?

First in the nation in new cases

First in morbidity

First in new hospitalizations

Among the last in vaccinations

 

You’re nobody’s fool

You went to the best school

(Harvard University)

You have a law degree

Yet you’ve sentenced

Thousands to death

By executive decree

 

Do you just not care?

Is this some grand design?

Get rid of all the riffraff

Leave the takers behind

 

We know you’re running for Prez

By any and all means

Nothing less is sufficient

It is your only dream

 

But is it worth the price

To be a man among men

When it comes to Covid

There is no better friend

 

Square One Part II

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Square One II

 

How long (we asked) will this go on?

How long before it’s done?

Eighteen months and counting

Now we’re back to square one

 

We’ve been pushed to our limits

Some have strained their will to live

How much more must we take

When we have little left to give?

 

It is the summer of the warming

The August sun is burning hot

We dream of cooler climates

Somewhere where we’re not

 

So the test begins again

At least now we’re more prepared

We know what we must do

But do we know enough to care?

 

We are reaching for an end

But we’ve seen this play before

When it’s over it begins again

Til we’re angry to the core

 

We’ve searched through our memories

We know there is no other way

We must let go of all our anguish

And live from day to day

 

The Seine (River Series)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS (RIVER SERIES)

 

The Seine

 

Along the banks of the River Seine

Sat Claude Monet with his easel

Toulouse-Lautrec and Marcel Proust

Balzac and Victor Hugo

King Louie and Marie Antoinette

Some call it the pinnacle of culture

Some simply call it vain

Monarchs have bowed before her

The mighty River Seine

 

Where Danton raised his rebel cry

And lost his life beneath the blade

Where students pledged their lives

And workers stood beside them

Hand in hand boot to boot

Liberte egalite fraternite

They marched for basic freedoms

Til the little emperor came along

With a promise of immortality

So they sang another song

 

The center of the western world

The best and worst of men

All along the River Seine

The French will rise again

 

The River Thames

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS (RIVER SERIES)

The River Thames

The island river of old Britannia

Known by some as Isis

Its dark waters have floated kings

To exile and exultation

 

The rising tide under London Bridge

Projects a mirror image

Parliament the tower and the wheel

A window to princes and monarchies

Ancient grudges and uprisings

The birth of human dignity

The rights of humankind

 

Echoes of the Globe Theater

Where Hamlet philosophized

Where Henry railed against the French

Where Falstaff belittled kings

Before his bitter end

 

All along the River Thames

The people take their comfort

For through the storied ages

While royal houses rise and fall

Their pomp and pageantry aglow

No matter who the palace holds

The river always flows

The river always flows

Mandate

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Mandate

 

Freedom has its limits in a free society

You are not free to do harm to others

You are not free to seize my home

You are not free to steal my property

You are not free to invade my privacy

You are not free to spread disease

 

Freedom has its limits in a sane society

You are not free to pollute my water

You are not free to poison my air

You are not free to disturb my peace

You are not free to practice medicine

Without a legitimate degree

You are not free to spread disease

 

You have a right to speak your mind

You have a right to vote as you will

You do not have a right to make me sick

You do not have a right to kill

 

For the greater good of all

The rights of the one must fall

If a mandate is what we need

To a mandate we will accede

 

Freedom Day in London Town

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

 

Freedom Day

 

It’s Freedom Day in London Town

One has to wonder why

Is it the freedom to live one’s life

Or the freedom to rot and die?

 

Boris the Clown is back

He shrugs with a mischievous grin:

If not now then when?

 

Here’s an answer for you Boris

When the virus is on the wane

Not a moment before then

Or have you gone completely insane?

 

But Boris is not listening

Seems he’s been here once before

He’s in quarantine again

And he seems a trifle bored

 

So Britain becomes a petri dish

For mutations to rise and spread

How will it all affect us?

Will we stop counting the dead?

 

We must wonder if it had to be

Could the people stand no more?

Will we wonder at the price and ask:

What were we fighting for?

 

Blunder Down Under

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

 

Blunder Down Under

They’ve hit the streets in Sydney

To strike a blow for wonder

How did they lose control?

The great blunder down under

 

They locked their borders early on

To keep the deadly virus out

But it found its way somehow

And now they have their doubts

 

They thought they were a lucky nation

They didn’t need to vaccinate

Now they know that vaccination

Is the only way to escape this fate

 

They thought they did it all right

In so many ways they did

But when it came to the vaccines

They submitted a lower bid

 

So now they pay the price

And the price seems too severe

If you’re planning a trip down under

Best wait until next year

 

March of Civilization

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

March of Civilization

 

We slithered out of the swamps

Grew limbs fingers and toes

Stood upright and developed our brains

Formed families tribes and traditions

 

We developed spoken language

Increased the ties that bind

Invented the written word

So that lessons learned could survive

Across the generations

 

We built societies into nations

Nations into kingdoms and empires

Gathered magnificent armies and alliances

Constructed walls defining borders

Fought battles against fierce enemies

Defined human rights

Gave birth to representative government

Founded the principles of science

Formed institutions of education

Built civil societies and social order

 

We created from the raw earth

The most astounding works of

Art and architecture

Medicine and journalism

Government and literature

Technology and entertainment

 

Yet here we are

On the precipice of oblivion

So many of our people eager

To push us over the edge

 

Have we come this far only

To crawl back into the swamps

From which we came?

 

 

The Colorado

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: RIVER SERIES

 

The Colorado

 

The river that carved Grand Canyon

That courses through vast deserts

Giving life where none existed

Now fuels the water wars

Of Southern California

 

The wild Colorado with its twisting rapids

The flowing Colorado easing its way

To the monumental Hoover Dam

At one time the seventh wonder

Of the modern world

 

Without the Colorado

The expansive Los Angeles basin

Would have dried and cracked ages ago

 

Without the Colorado

The phoenix would not have risen

 

Without the Colorado

There would be no Las Vegas

 

How long before the great river itself

Dries to a barren crisp

Leaving us to our own device

Abandoned in the wasteland?

 

The Road to Space

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

The Road to Space

 

The privilege of wealth

Is to place ones fingertips

On the very edge of space

Like an infant taking his first step

We shoot rockets to the moon

Shuttle astronauts to space stations

And let billionaires collect the thrills

Of glimpsing the edge of oblivion

 

The man of wealth and vision is right

We will destroy this beautiful planet

If we do not pave the road to space

If we do not transfer industry

To less hospitable climes

 

So let them collect the glory

That belongs to humankind

It is the greater story

That history will find

 

Save the planet by developing space

Save the planet for the human race

 

[Blue Origin takes Bezos to space.]

 

Fire Season

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

Fire Season

 

The Bootleg Fire feeds itself

With toxic clouds that spew lightning

That sparks dry tinder

That feeds the fire that creates the clouds

That tosses lightning bolts

That spark dry tinder

On and on

 

The Bootleg in Oregon

Is the largest fire in America

Its toxic fumes ride the wind

From the golden west to the east

 

New Yorkers breathe Oregon’s air

 

The Tamarack Fire sparked

South of Lake Tahoe and

Rode the wind across the California line

To the dry barren earth of Nevada

Where there is nothing to stop the flames

Two weeks later it still burns

Without containment or control

 

The morning sun is red

The setting sun is flame

The noon sky is gray with

Smoke and poison clouds

 

This is the world we have created

This is the endowment

We hand our children

This is our legacy

 

Vax Populi

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Vax Populi

 

Tucker Carlson is vaccinated

Sean Hannity is vaccinated

Donald Trump is vaccinated

Bret Baier is vaccinated

Laura Ingraham is vaccinated

 

The louder the voice

The greater the hypocrisy

 

There are men and women of integrity

Who do not believe in science

Who do not believe in modern medicine

Who do not believe in institutions of knowledge

Who do not believe in vaccines

 

There are men and women of integrity

Who are willing to risk their children

To uphold the validity of their beliefs

 

To them I say: go in peace

May the price of ignorance

Be no more than you can bear

 

There are others who stand

With ignorance and obstinacy

For higher ratings and appearance fees

For political contributions and security

 

To them I say:

There is a level in hell reserved for you

For the price of your hypocrisy

Can never be too great

 

How Democracy Dies

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

How Democracy Dies

 

Good people saying nothing

Propaganda gains free reign

Ignorance is exalted

Autocrats capture power

Undesirables denied the ballot box

Leaders get away with lies

This is how democracy dies

 

Wars bring corporate treasures

Money controls elections

No one cares if the game is fixed

The courts are stacked

Journalists are out of business

Lonely lady liberty cries

This is how democracy dies

 

There is a separate reality

Where nearly half the people live

They are lost in a cloud of toys

Can’t be heard for all the noise

Can’t be bothered to raise a cry

A brave new world will rise

This is how democracy dies

 

Champion Golfer of the Year

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Champion Golfer of the Year

 

The Americans teed off

Two strokes apart and yearning

The South African led the field

No one was more deserving

 

Off they went on a wild journey

That would consume four hours’ time

In the end only one would claim:

The Claret Jug is mine!

 

Golfers rose and golfers fell

As on the battle raged

They did their countries honor

On the game’s greatest stage

 

Everyone who plays the game

Felt the heart fill with pride

For the one who grabbed victory

With fortune at his side

 

The young man with nerves of steel

Played his round without fear

So tip your hat and raise a glass

To the champion golfer of the year

 

[Collin Morikawa wins The Open.]

 

The Deluge

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

The Deluge

 

Fires across the North American west

Floods across Northern Europe

Heat waves and horrific drought

Leaving us no room for doubt

 

The earth is undergoing transformation

From a life sustaining ecosystem

To a purge of poison and toxicity

Where the poison and toxicity is us

 

The planet is destroying that

Which would destroy the earth

 

Floods fires pestilence and heat

We have proven our own worst enemy

Even the forests no longer sustain us

The Amazon the tundra the glaciers

The oceans the rivers the open plains

All are reaching their limits

All are striking back

 

The planet is revolting against

The multi-millennial reign of humans

The earth is serving final notice

Repair the damage or face

Most dire consequences

Eviction destruction elimination

We no longer have a choice

Change or die

For the greater good