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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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?

 

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?

 

 

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.)

 

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

 

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