Sunday, December 12, 2021

The Abraham Principle

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE


The Abraham Principle

 

For he so loved God

That he offered his only son

 

Who among us would not offer

Our own life for the life of a child?

Who would not sacrifice oneself

To save a mother?

 

God and nature make no such offers

God and nature have only one bargain

And that is prescribed by science:

If / Then …

 

If you abuse your stay on earth

If you exploit the planets resources

If you cut down mountains

If you clear cut forests

If you poison rivers

If you pump toxic fumes

Into a finite atmosphere

For decades upon ages without end

If you pretend there is no problem

That God and nature will self-correct

That it is the will of God

That all must suffer to fulfill a prophecy

That it is beyond the will of man

Then you will face certain consequences

 

Then fires will rage in the west

Erasing whole towns from existence

Then storms will strike with deadly force

Marking the land with devastation

Then floods will bury islands

And render towering cities extinct

Then raging winds of fire will

Raze the land from sea to sea

Then mothers will cry for children lost

Then Abraham will offer his only son

Too late the damage done

Too late the damage done

 

Saturday, December 11, 2021

Asylum

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD AFFAIRS


Asylum

 

We seek asylum from oppression

We are hundreds of thousands strong

We seek asylum from starvation

We have suffered far too long

 

We are Haitian and Congolese

We are Hondurans and Guatemalans

We afraid for our children

We are fleeing for our lives

We believe in hard work

Give us a chance we will thrive

 

We believe in human rights

We believe in democracy

We will stand up and fight

We solemnly pledge our lives

 

We seek asylum from brutality

You would do the same

We are fighting for our families

We are not the ones to blame

 

Thursday, December 09, 2021

Goodbye Angela Farewell

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD AFFAIRS


Goodbye Angela Farewell

 

For sixteen years she reigned

Over Europe from Berlin

The birthing of the union

The collapse of the banks

Debt and austerity

The never-ending war on terror

The rise of the Islamic State

Russian aggression

The climate crisis

The great migration

The reactionary right

The rise of the autocrats

Brexit and the British clown

The American void

The global pandemic

 

History will record

Through the trials and tribulations

Of the most challenging times

In the post-industrial age

Angela Merkel held steady

While others faltered

 

History will record

The European Union owes its existence

To Merkel’s strength and diplomacy

 

For sixteen of the most critical years

For human civilization on earth

Merkel filled the gaping hole

That America and Britain left wanting

The iron woman of Berlin

Stood up to the Russian beast

When the American president demurred

Stood up to the white nationalist threat

When the American president

Gave it praise and encouragement

 

We did not agree with austerity

We did not agree on many policies

But on the whole we admired you

And in the end we thank you

 

Where would we be without you?

 

Goodbye Angela fare well

 

Wednesday, December 08, 2021

The Space Between Us

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS


The Space Between Us

 

The difference between Europe and America

Lies partly in the concept of space

Perception of space

Utilization of space

Realization of space

 

In Paris London and Berlin

There is little waste of space

A kitchen and a living room

May encroach upon each other

(Except for the wealthy of course)

A bedroom and a bathroom

Consume the required space

Along with a washer and dryer

The essential appliances

A room with a view is luxury

 

In New York Chicago and LA

An apartment demands a kitchen

Separate from a dining room

Separate from a living room

Separate from a bedroom

With an adjoining bath

There are windows to the world

 

Americans require space

Europeans require utility

Americans love the beauty

Of wide horizons and expansive skies

Europeans love the beauty

Of masterful art and sleek designs

 

The space between us is oft times large

And sometimes small

But it is always there

 

Monday, December 06, 2021

Roe

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS


Roe

 

Maybe you didn’t think we’d mourn

The loss of abortion rights

Maybe you didn’t think we’d rage

Maybe you didn’t think we’d fight

 

Women were last to gain the vote

Women were forced to stand in line

Women could not control their bodies

Women had substandard minds

 

We’ve always known it was a lie

Designed to hold a woman down

Yet it endured for centuries

Women were tied and bound

 

Once freed we thought it would stick

America doesn’t walk back its rights

If we underestimated your audacity

You’ve misjudged our will to fight

 

It was once considered settle law

Now there is no end in sight

To assert a woman’s right to choose

A united left will fight fight fight

 

Sunday, December 05, 2021

Minority Rule

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DEMOCRACY


Minority Rule

 

There are those who believe in aristocracy

That the privileged class should rule

There are those who believe in democracy

That its values should be taught in school

There are those who believe that democracy

Can be adapted to minority rule

But to pretend it’s still democratic

You would have to be a fool

 

Abolish the electoral college

In a bold and decisive move

Outlaw designer districting

Find your democratic groove

Punish disenfranchisement

Like the crime it always was

It’s not what the party says

It’s what the party does

Take the money out of politics

Give every candidate a chance

When we elect the best and brightest

We will finally advance

Protect the right to vote

Let all our citizens know

We are all in the same boat

And everyone must row

 

Saturday, December 04, 2021

Intelligence

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS


Intelligence

 

When did we begin despising intellect?

When did we begin fearing intelligence?

 

Intelligence has guided us out of

The dark ages into the renaissance

Out of superstition into science

Out of the cave into society

 

Intelligence differentiates us

From the animal world

Where brute strength and instinct

Solely determine what survives

And what perishes

 

Intelligence gave us industry

Intelligence explores the stars

Intelligence invented technology

Intelligence has enabled us

To journey this far

 

Abandon intelligence

Declare it an enemy of the people

Confine it to an empty space

Where it cannot guide us

Where it cannot reach us

Where it cannot save us from ourselves

And we are doomed to extinction

Doomed to decline

Doomed to expire at the assigned date

 

Why would any civilization

Discard its most valuable members

Unless it secretly desires

Annihilation?

 

Thursday, December 02, 2021

Democracy Rising in Latin America

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY


Democracy Rising in Latin America

 

The people have spoken in Honduras

Xiomara Castro is elected president

With a promise to end corruption

To help the poor and dispossessed

To bring relief to the oppressed

To liberalize abortion laws

Support the people’s cause

 

They have spoken in Barbados

Electing Sandra Mason president

The first woman in executive residence

Leaving behind English colonialism

Embracing elements of basic socialism

Bidding farewell to the aristocracy

Affirming the values of democracy

 

In Peru the people have spoken

Electing Pedro Castillo of Peru Libre

Rejecting soundly the autocratic right

Pushing the neocons from their sight

To the dismay of corporate powers

Democracy rises to claim the hour

 

The people have spoken in Bolivia

Just as they’ve spoken in Argentina

The question is:

Will America hear their voices?

Will we honor the democratic revival?

Or will we slip back to our imperial ways?

 

 

Wednesday, December 01, 2021

Omicron

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES


Omicron

 

A new day

A new dawn

The desperate age of omicron

Wave after wave after wave

Prepare the hospitals

Dig the graves

 

The plague that never ends

Rolls on like an angry storm

Build your walls

Keep your distance

Find a cave and climb in

Get used to virtual existence

Resist the new resistance

 

Omicron is here to stay

It roams by wind and breeze

We pray for it to go away

But it spreads with natural ease

A self-perpetuating force

A debilitating disease

 

It is hard to keep our faith

Harder still to maintain trust

But keep our faith we will

And trust because we must

 

No matter how long it takes

Our spirits will not break

 

(Note: While the Omicron variant is

extremely contagious, whether its

effects are more or less severe is not

yet known.)

 

Monday, November 29, 2021

Social Need

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS


Social Need

 

Humans have most basic needs

Beyond physical necessities

Beyond water and the air we breathe

Some pay homage to honor

Some answer to greed

Art can give us pleasure

Books can plant a seed

Money can buy a continent

A hero we can breed

But all the money in all the banks

Like all the fishes in the seven seas

Cannot bring joy to the human heart

Cannot fulfill the social need

 

Zuckerberg gave us social media

Bezos gave us a material dream

Jobs open doors of perception

Gates made it cheap

 

But all the wonders of technology

No matter how spectacular

No matter how it seems

Cannot make a human whole

Or fulfill our social need

 

Sunday, November 28, 2021

Corporate World

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS


Corporate World

 

The world will not be controlled

By a single powerful nation

But it may well be dominated

By an omnipotent corporation

 

Gaze into the looking glass

That projects our rise and fall

It is the almighty corporation

That grabs control of it all

 

Meta Facebook is social media

Google commands the web

Amazon takes the retail market

We consume whatever we’re fed

 

The local stores are almost gone now

The franchise is on its way out

That a few corporations will buy it all

Is something few can doubt

 

They don’t care about our interests

They don’t care what we do or say

They only care about their profits

And how much we’re willing to pay

 

Saturday, November 27, 2021

Crossing Over

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS


Crossing Over (Birth of Evil)

 

Good cannot become evil

Without the seed of evil

Implanted in the soul

 

When the seed of evil is implanted

It requires nourishment to grow

 

Greed nourishes evil

Desire in its basest form

Anger and jealousy

Hatred and revenge

 

From these the evil seed is sown

The evil being is grown

 

Humans are born innocent

A fertile unspoiled soil

An open landscape

An undiscovered country

A great untapped unknown

 

A town without people

A place where nothing grows

A song without a tune

A dog without a bone

A dance without a partner

Too many years alone

 

We are neither good nor evil

Until something comes along

Something honest and virtuous

Something twisted and wrong

A shining hero or a villain

A disconcerting song

 

The story takes a turn

A bump along the road

Transforms us to a jackal

Instead of old Tom Joad

 

Friday, November 26, 2021

Wheel of Time

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS/HISTORY


Wheel of Time

 

Ancient stars collide in space

Spin the wheel of time

The birthing of the human race

Out of the muck we climb

We stand and walk upright

Discover tools and weapons

Battles we will fight

Close your eyes and spin

We build towers to the stars

Make deities of common men

Devise machinery and cars

Spin the wheel again

We irrigate the barren land

Invent alphabets and words

Write testaments by hand

Create systems and societies

Monuments so grand

Pills to ease anxieties

Take a break and spin

The wheel of time turns

Relentless and indifferent

To all we want and yearn

Our prayers and lamentations

Our worries and our greed

Advance the rule of nations

The patriotic seed

The wheel of time moves on

The force of all combined

A constant pulsing thrust

Beyond knowing and design

We look because we must

Spin the wheel and wait

A power most divine

Creations of the mind

The wheel of time turns

The movement of the tides

As we can only learn

To enjoy the ride

 

Thursday, November 25, 2021

Thanksgiving

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS


Thanksgiving

 

Today we give pause

To acknowledge our blessings

We who have our basic needs fulfilled

Must thank our blessed good fortune

And acknowledge those who do not

 

We acknowledge the hungry

We acknowledge the poor

We acknowledge the homeless

We must open the door

 

For there must be a way

To fulfill all our needs

If we stop all our fighting

If we end all the greed

 

The bounty of earth is plentiful

There’s enough to go around

If we dedicate our gratitude

Better ways can be found

 

No child should be hungry

No mother without a home

Every soul should take comfort

Knowing no one is alone