Peace on Earth

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR & PEACE

Peace on Earth

 

In this moment of solemnity

As quiet comforts my soul

It seems a long hard road ahead when

Peace on earth sticks in my throat

When hope sometimes grows old

We shiver in our winter coats

We fight against the cold

 

Though our wish for peace is great

Our prayers are greater still

Those in the zone of war must wonder

How much our prayers are worth

Their friends and loved ones killed

They also prayed for peace on earth

As winter brought a chill

As Christmas brought a dearth

 

But pray for peace we must

In the winter of our darkest fears

For all the world seems hollow

Our yuletide glow seems dreary

And we would yield our winter cheer

Our songs and loving wishes

For a just and lasting peace this year

For peace on earth next year

 

The Long Hard Winter

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

The Long Hard Winter

 

It’s a long hard winter in Ethiopia where

famine spreads like a deadly disease

Where the war for control of a dying land

seems it will never end

Where a life is valued at less than a single

digit in the local currency

Where the oil cartels and the mineral cartels

and the precious metals cartels employ

natives at semi-slave wages while feeding

the militias with weapons of war

 

It’s a long hard winter in Alabama and Louisiana

where storms and hurricanes line up to batter

the poor like ghosts of hurricanes past

 

It’s a long hard winter on the east coast

of America from Maine down to Virginia

where the freeze knocks out power and

the chill enters the marrow of bones

 

It’s a long hard winter in the Midwest

from Minnesota to Tennessee where the

frost nips at your toes and numbs your

fingertips

 

It’s a long hard winter most everywhere

On every continent and every sea

But it’s harder and longer in Ukraine

where it’s raining missiles from Moscow

most everywhere you see

 

Strike Back (Ukraine)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

Strike Back

 

You thought it was safe to start a war

You were impervious to attack

Now you have a new reality

The Ukrainians will strike back

 

It’s easier when it’s pure aggression

Fight a war on enemy ground

Now that the war has come home

The people will bring you down

 

This war was never justified

And it will never be forgot

A crime against all of humanity

A just and good war it was not

 

Your days are numbered now

You’ve made your last mistake

We will mourn the needless death

And the nightmares that men make

 

That you will never triumph

Is a fact you can be sure

Aggression is a disease

Unity is the cure

 

Turkey & NATO

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Turkey & the NATO Alliance

 

Finland and Sweden want to join NATO

Turkey stands in the way

Expel Turkey from the alliance

Erdogan should have nothing to say

 

Turkey has become a liability

Bombing the Kurds who defeated ISIS

Finland and Sweden are democracies

Who would you rather have in a crisis?

 

NATO should represent more than power

The Kurdish people are our allies

In the guidance of Erdogan’s Turkey

Democracy is nothing but lies

 

The Turkish people must decide

With whom they wish to be friends

If they side with ISIS and Russia

Their time in NATO should be at an end

 

Guilty

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Guilty (Sedition)

 

Proud Boys ain’t so proud today

The Oath Keepers break their vows

Pronounced guilty, sent to prison

For as long as the law allows

 

Let all extremists be forewarned

If you attack the ship of state

Be prepared to pay the price

For acting out your hate

 

Treason is a nasty word

How else would you describe it?

You led an angry mob that day

Pushed forward from inside it

 

Now the day of judgment comes

Bow your heads in shame

You’ll live in lasting infamy

Traitor shall be your name

 

Robocop in San Francisco

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Robocop in San Francisco

 

The future arrives in San Francisco

Robotic law enforcement

What in seven heavens could go wrong?

Riot control

Death by cop

Justice by machine

Drop your gun or face the music

An old familiar song

 

It was only a matter of time

We trust the machine more

Than we trust the humans

Robot bankers

Robot clerks

Robot attorneys at law

Robot babysitters

Robot financial advisors

Robot card dealers

Robot construction workers

Robot doctors

Robot insurance agents

 

There is little robots cannot do

It is only a question of time

The question then becomes

What do robots do with us?

 

Fourth Wind

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

Fourth Wind

 

When the first wind blows

The heavens whisper blessings

A lullaby of peaceful dreams

 

When the second wind blows

Our senses set alert

Dust stirs and leaves scatter

We watch the evening sun

 

When the third wind blows

All creatures are alarmed                                              

Dogs howl and birds take flight

Dark clouds invade the sky

Tall trees bend and fences fold

 

When the fourth wind blows

Terror rips through a darkened sky

Trees fall and mountains tremble

We hide ourselves in shelters

Huddle with our loved ones

Pray the storm will pass us by

 

We are at the mercy of nature

The four winds and hard rains

Years of drought and melting glaciers

Typhoons tsunamis hurricanes

She commands our respect

As we beg for her forgiveness

 

Football Riots in Belgium

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Football Riots in Belgium

 

In a world on the edge of destruction

A never-ending series of tragedy

 

With millions of people dead

From a virus we could not control

 

With democracy on the balance

in nations once thought secure

 

With economies at the breaking point

With homelessness on the rise

and the plight of the working poor

 

In a world of global warming

bringing storms like never before

 

In a world brutal aggression

upending the world of order

bringing threats of nuclear war

 

The Belgians throw a riot

over a football score

 

(Morocco defeats Belgium 2-0)

 

Artemis

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Artemis

 

The journey to eternity begins with Artemis

A momentary stop on the dark side of the moon

A space station, a launching post

A short jump to the red planet

As the century unfolds

Another station on the moons of Saturn

Artemis II, Artemis III and IV

The universe expands as we ride the waves

to the edge of the galaxy

From there the stars reveal the secrets

that open the doors of infinite space

A window to beyond

Survival of the race

It all begins with Artemis

 

One-Man Rule (China)

   RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL DEMOCRACY

 

One-Man Rule

 

The unstoppable force of the people

Erupts in protest and rage

The people gathered in the streets

Have reached the riot stage

 

An end to the Covid tyranny

An end to the ruthless and cruel

The people always had the power

To end this one-man rule

 

The power of Chi is infinite

The power of Xi is not

When you carelessly abuse your power

There are lessons to be wrought

 

To the people you must yield

There can be no other way

You must honor the will of the people

If in power you would stay

 

Truth

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Truth

 

I am a man of a mighty nation

I am a man of the world

I do not pretend to have the answers

I have no faith in those who do

 

The truth does not belong to me

It does not belong at all

It exists apart from the world of man

It is neither old nor new

 

The truth cannot be lost or found

Though it can easily be obscured

You might chasten it for a century

But what’s true is always true

 

There are those who claim to worship it

But truth will not be worshipped

Truth is as truth has always been

Without regard for me or you

 

London Strike

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

Strike (London)

 

Years of austerity economics

The trickle down that never did

Brexit from the continent

An economy on the skids

 

The ruling class complains

A strike only makes it worse

But it had to happen sometime

It’s the working class curse

 

When times are hard in Britain

They’re harder on the poor

The safety net is all but gone

There are beggars at your door

 

If you want to save the system

Listen to their needs

A living wage for everyone

An end to corporate greed

 

Grooming Killers

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

 

Grooming Killers

 

Guns don’t kill, killers do

But killers with guns kill better

A single-shot gun or rifle

Kills better than a knife

But there’s nothing like an M-16

To take a lot of lives

 

If we’re worried about the children

Growing up in an age of death

We should take a few precautions

Before the child’s first breath

Control the entertainment games

That give a thousand thrills

Rewarding simulated violence

Engaging with the kill

 

Let’s teach kids how to live in peace

To know and love and understand

The many people in this world

Who need a helping hand

 

Teach kids not to hate

Teach them how to get along

Teach them how our many voices

Will contribute to a song

 

Now take away the weapons

Designed for use in war

Without those deadly instruments

We’d save so many more

 

Taiwan and Ukraine

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Taiwan and Ukraine

 

China is to Taiwan

As Russia is to Ukraine

A world of aggressive war

Is a world gone insane

 

We have lived with war too long

We have sanctioned its abuse

When invaders are rewarded

We have lit a deadly fuse

 

Ukraine is a sovereign nation

All the world must agree

Taiwan is an independent state

With the right to be free

 

China is to Russia

As Taiwan is to Ukraine

The right to independence

The responsibility to refrain

 

Dreamers

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DREAM

Dreamers

 

In all my days I’ve wanted nothing more

Than to dream and act on my dreams

Our lives have so much hardship in store

Our ambitions are just what they seem

 

We want a chance at higher education

We want jobs at a decent wage

We want to live in a fair and thriving nation

We want to see an enlightened age

 

We are the ones who believe in the dream

The ones who will carry the light

We wish to join the American team

We will keep our goals in sight

 

We are really no different than you are

We desire the same things you do

A home, a family a working car

To prove that the dream is still true

 

Putin's Pain

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

Putin’s Pain

 

When you’ve paid the price of war

When your sons and daughters are no more

When you understand it was all in vain

Remember: Putin feels your pain

 

This war was never justified

You only fight for Putin’s pride

While the nation feels the strain

Take heart: He feels your pain

 

We’ve had enough of Putin’s kind

A leader leads, this man is blind

Ambitions poison his brain

He can never feel your pain

 

This war must one day finally end

The wounds of war must finally mend

It’s time past time to end his reign

Let Putin feel the pain