Winter Wildfire (Prayers for Boulder CO)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

Winter Wildfire

 

If you’ve ever been to Boulder

You know

If you’ve ever known its wonder

You understand

 

Boulder is a home to art and artists

It is a place of poetry dance and music

It is a place that embraces philosophy

A place that encourages freedom of thought

 

If you’ve ever been to Boulder

You know it is an enchanted place

Where dreams take hold and flourish

 

Boulder is in trouble

As a winter wildfire strikes down

Her winter walls

Breaks down her gates

To threaten all who dwell within

 

Dozens of brave firefighters

Weary from their own battles

Stand ready to come to her defense

From all corners of the nation

Prayers and warm wishes

Rush to offer comfort and aide

 

Let us once again affirm that

We are all one

United in common purpose

Determined to protect our own

Whatever the cost

 

Through all storms and disasters

Through all misfortune and tragedy

We stand our ground in Boulder

And proclaim to a weary world:

We shall not be broken

We are Americans

And we will prevail

 

[A wildfire wipes out hundreds

of homes in Boulder, Colorado]

 

The Year of Constant Chaos

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

The Year of Constant Chaos

 

The Trump Insurrection

and so it began

We jumped into action

and ran ran ran

 

The incredulous king

would not give up his crown

The election results

could not bring him down

 

The renewed virus continued to kill

It seems we swallowed a poison pill

Some fought it while others surrendered

and yes we’re fighting it still

 

We finally left Afghanistan

America’s longest war

After so many years of fighting

we no longer knew what for

 

It was a year so strange indeed

The lead Republican was a Democrat

Remember the saying of Senator Reid:

Hold your noses cuz “I smell a rat”

 

Cops found guilty of committing crimes

Breaking the blue wall of silence

Will this be the year we draw the line

between reasonable force and violence?

 

The ghost of rampant inflation

ran roughshod across the nation

and rampaged much of the planet

It had been so long we could only say dammit!

Let’s punt cuz we don’t understand it

 

China and Russia formed a twisted alliance

Based largely on mutual defiance

of civilized norms and basic rights

Both seemed anxious to start a fight

in Taiwan or Georgia or embattled Ukraine

Vlad the Great began his reign

and Emperor Xi sang the same refrain

Their love of power will drive them insane

 

Fires hurricanes twisters and floods

Whole towns engulfed and buried in mud

Those who claimed a climate change hoax

Find themselves political jokes

 

Democracy threatened in all hemispheres

Dashing our hopes engendering fears

But the people rose and hopes were renewed

In Chile Bolivia Honduras Peru

 

Omicron became the new viral scourge

Strike up the band for another dirge

 

We sent our vision to the end of space

warming the hearts of the human race

 

Winter storms brought a mountain of snow

once again allowing our hopes to grow

The end of the drought may be drawing near

We welcome the promise of a bright new year

 

The Big Bang Paradox

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

"There's no such thing as random chance."  Jack Random

 

The Big Bang Paradox

 

Can we observe our own birth

without existing in two places at once?

 

Can we be the observed and the observer?

 

As the Webb telescope zooms

to the outer reaches of space

where it promises to come within

a whisper of observing the birth

of the known universe and all it entails

the question must be asked:

 

Can that which does not exist in time

observe that which does? 

 

Will time in all its mystery unfold

before the eyes of humankind?

And if it does will we observe

ourselves from behind?

 

Will we come undone in time?

Will we pass through the doors

of perception and conception?

Will we enter a new age

of evolution and comprehension?

Will our minds expand or implode?

 

When we reach beyond the moment

of our existence will we still exist?

 

We have discovered the paradox of being

without knowing or understanding

what follows

 

Boom

 

(for John Lopes)

Chile for Hope

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Chile for Hope

 

In the election of Gabriel Boric

Over the right-wing strongman Kast

The Chilean people raised hope

That they have buried Pinochet at last

 

A rejection of the Bolsonaro clone

The promise of a new constitution

The people were bold and decisive

In tossing the old institutions

 

It is a bold new day in Chile

May it spread across the land

A message of democracy and freedom

Strike up a victorious band

 

The new president must now deliver

On the promises he put forth

Governing by forged consensus

Without the abuse of force

 

The world knows it will not be easy

But there’s no other way ahead

We’ve had enough of strongman oppressors

Let’s try liberation instead

 

Pillars of Shame

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL JUSTICE

 

Pillars of Shame

 

Anguished faces of the fallen

A stern reminder of the purge

A remembrance of the massacre

A memorial to the courage

That is Tiananmen Square

 

It stands as a pillar of shame

Though you remove it from our sight

It sits forever in our minds

Though you prohibit its pronunciation

It is burned into our hearts

Though you have banished

All thoughts and memories

 

You cannot ban the contents

Of hearts and minds

You cannot tell us

What to think

What to feel

What to remember

Or who to mourn

 

We take a vow now and always

To remember all of the genocides

All of the victims of oppression

All of the crimes against humanity

All of the suffering and sacrifice

Until the end of civilized time

 

(The Chinese government takes down

the monument Pillar of Shame at

Hong Kong University.)

 

Struggle

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  LIFE SONGS

Struggle

 

The banality of this world

Wears me down

Like weight on tired shoulders

The cruelty of this world

Takes hold of me and

Bends me to the ground

The disillusion of this world

Stops my heart from beating

The indifference of this world

Triggers my sense of outrage

Sends me reeling in all directions

Like a whirling phantom

Without a place of rest

The deprivations of this world

Leave me gasping for air

Desperate and afraid

 

Yet the kindness of this world

Revives my sense of balance

Stimulates my hope

The creativity of this world

Restores the flow of my desire

Allows me to feel whole

The gentleness of this world

Lifts my waning soul

Inspires me with care

The beauty of this world

Steals my breath away

Engaging my sense of wonder

Renewing flames of yearning

I drink from the well of joy

And let my spirit soar

 

The Meaning of Christmas

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

The Meaning of Christmas

 

The meaning of Christmas is caring

Not shopping at fancy stores

The meaning of Christmas is sharing

From the rich to the needful poor

 

It seems Jesus was a socialist

He believed in giving more

He didn’t care too much for loyalists

To the great commercial bores

 

So take a moment to give thanks

To the ones who need the most

Let us guide them through the door

With a smile and a nice warm roast

 

When the meaning of Christmas is clear

We will all be uplifted and well

We will release a lot of our fears

And rejoice at the sound of bells

 

By the Sea

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

By the Sea

 

In solemn moments by the sea

I feel the spirits take hold of me

And there I sit to this very day

A prayer to take my soul away

 

The mists of ancient tears

Will wash away my inborn fears

The very heartbeat of the earth

Gives hope and wonder birth

 

The sea is where I always turn

When in my beating heart I yearn

To find a moment’s restful peace

All my worries to release

 

I count the waves in endless nines

Until my very core unwinds

And all the pain I’ve ever known

With the gulls away have flown

 

A part of me I leave behind

Each and every parting time

I promise to come back again

When the sea invites me in

 

We Are One

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

We Are All One

 

The stone that makes the mountain strong

The voice that sings a soulful song

That strikes a chord that lovers hear

That ends the war and conquers fear

That steals away the endless night

Reminding us to seek the light

In everything we’ve ever done

Informing one and all

That we are one

We are all one

We are one

 

A child that stopped to ask her why

So many people had to die

Not knowing a good and cheerful life

Not having a chance to try

She answered with a knowing sigh

She could never tell a lie

And all the people crowded in

Like sardines in a tin

We die so we can live again

For we are one

We are all one

We are one

 

The leaves upon a mighty oak

The man who always tells a joke

The one who only seems to stare

And wonders why nobody cares

Enough to stop and share

But they do now

For we are one

We are all one

We are one

 

We gather at the mountain top

The victim and the lonely cop

Who shot a man for fighting back

On the dark side of the railroad tracks

In another time another place

As members of the human race

He looks into another face

And sees in it his own

For we are all one

We are all one

We are one

 

(for Leonard Cohen)

 

The Omicron Generation

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

The Omicron Generation

 

The fifteenth letter of the Greek alphabet

The fifteenth star in a constellation

The fifteenth level of Dante’s inferno

The fifteenth wave of destruction

The fifteenth generation of Euro-Americans

 

In fifteen months we’ll all have omicron

We’ll have it to keep from getting it

In fifteen years the omicron generation

Will inherit the reigns of the earth

 

Future historians will remember us

For what we did and did not do

Deniers will always deny it

But the truth will know it’s true

 

Some stood with the laws of medicine

To fight against every wave

Others stood for superstition

And marched the elders to their graves

 

The omicron will unite us

Giving up and giving in

Why fight the moon and the stars

When we can all begin again

 

Do not give up the fight

No matter how long it takes

Those who yield to darkness

The future will forsake

 

Tears for Vietnam

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

Tears for Vietnam

 

Woe to thee Vietnam

Who fought for freedom hard and long

To falter now in hypocrisy

A failure of democracy

 

The world must now remind

You dissent is not a crime

Speaking out is an obligation

When injustice poisons the nation

 

The fight for freedom will go on

From sunset through the dawn

The march for justice never ends

Gathering allies collecting friends

As long as courts abuse their power

Righteous dissidents will not cower

But stand to speak their minds

The rights of humankind

Cannot be jailed

But will prevail

In time

 

(December 2021:  The People’s Court sentences

Pham Doan Trang to nine years in prison for

Speaking out against the state.)

 

Spirit of Giving

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Spirit of Giving

 

At a time of great destruction

We are tempted to despair

But we find our common voices

In the rhythm of our hearts

We find the spirit of giving

And we demonstrate our care

 

We have so much more compassion

Than any one of us might dare

We are more than our prejudice

We are greater than ourselves

We are one with our families

And we are willing to share

 

In the gentle spirit of giving

As the holidays draw near

Let us open our giving hearts

Let our sense of empathy reign

Let us give what we will and can

Let us shed our loving tears

 

Let us wake up tomorrow

With the same yearning to give

To our brothers and our sisters

To our nephews and our daughters

To the many people in need

Wherever they may live

 

It will be Christmas soon

Let it be Christmas all year

Let us hold in our hearts

That kindred spirit of giving

To all of our loved ones

And all we hold dear

 

Justice

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Justice

 

The life of a gifted child cut short

The honorable fall while cheaters thrive

Victims exposed and punished in court

The system rewards corruption and lies

Justice seems a last resort

 

The gentle never have a decent chance

The crude and vulgar win the prize

The immoral always seem to advance

There are few exceptions for the wise

The lonely are rarely asked to dance

The evil lives while the good man dies

 

There is little justice in this life

Of that we can be certain

It’s rife with misery and strife

Like Helena Bonham and Tim Burton

We journey slowly into the night

Til they lower the final curtain

 

Tears of Love

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Tears of Love

 

There was a woman who shared her love

As if it were a treasure

She handed it out with gentle gloves

Delivering at her pleasure

When she was done she held it in

No more shall you enjoy

She gave you just a taste of sin

As if you were her toy

 

There was a man who loved her well

Who gave his heart in full

Her secrets he swore not to tell

He buried them in a hole

When it was done he almost fell

Where none could ever find him

A tragic place that some call hell

And watched his light grow dim

 

He wrote of love in memories

A love so pure and true

It lived but in his fantasies

A love he never knew

But in his heart he felt it all

A love for all the ages

A love that rose and could not fall

A love that grew in stages

 

There was a man who lived in dreams

He never knew a love so dear

Though love may not be what it seems

He measured love in tears