Dictators United

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Dictators United (The Great Divide)

 

Chi is a dictator *

Putin is a dictator

A dictator is one who has complete power

over the policies and conduct of a nation

That a nation holds mock elections

does not make it a true republic

Trump of the US was a dictator wannabe

He led a failed coup d’état

Bolsonaro of Brazil was a wannabe

He too failed at a coup d’état

Erdogan of Turkey is a wannabe

He attacks the institutions of democracy

Places opposition leaders behind bars

Punishes journalists and dissidents

Modi of India flirts with dictatorship

He leads a violent repression of minorities

He is accused of encouraging genocide

India today remains a democracy

but it teeters on the edge of the abyss

What happens when Modi’s party loses?

Will he yield to the people’s will?

Or will he follow Trump and Bolsonaro?

On this the future of Indian democracy depends

And the world lies in the balance

 

We are fast approaching a division of world

powers into democracies and autocracies

If India joins Chi and Putin in embracing

the strong hand of oppression

a future of perpetual violence and

upheaval lies waiting

 

As members of the free world

we are caught in a vice of horrid choices

We need India to stand with us

We need Turkey to a lesser degree

If they fail the cost will be profound

 

* Biden refers to Chi as a dictator while

welcoming Modi to the White House

 

The Ballad of Christopher Wray

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Ballad of Christopher Wray

 

Hey hey Christopher Wray

How many crimes did you ignore today?

 

You were in the highest position of power

As we marched toward the critical hour

We assumed a position of supplication

When insurrection threatened the nation

While you stood down in a state of denial

Democracy faced its greatest trial

 

Hey hey Christopher Wray

Who paid you to get out of the way?

 

When the nation needed a strong hand

You flatly refused to take a stand

With the strength and courage you clearly lack

We finally took our country back

Oh the stories you might tell

Instead you’ll take them straight to hell

 

Hey hey Christopher Wray

Why do you still hold office today?

 

The Corrupt Court

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE

The Corrupt Court

 

After decades of neglect

When the press turned their backs

As they did for American heroes

In a former time and frame of mind

The media shines its glaring light

On the infamous corporate court

The highest in the land

The institution beyond reproach

To reveal its corporate brand

 

Accepting bribes from billionaires

Elaborate gifts and housing deals

Has become a standard practice

For the members of this court

 

That there are two systems of justice

Is now an indisputable fact

One for the rich and privileged

Another for the poor, the black

The native, brown and homeless

On the other side of the tracks

Nine Eleven Generation

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUE HISTORY

Nine Eleven Generation

 

The Vietnam generation grew up knowing

America was not always right

We attacked other nations without

Provocation just to prove we were the

Biggest baddest nation on the block

LBJ fed us to the meat grinder of war

And asked us to salute the flag in humble

Servitude to the mythology of USA!

Chanting: USA! USA! USA!

Nixon raised the stakes and fed a hundred

Thousand more knowing we were losing

Knowing we would lose the war

USA! USA! USA!

Some did as they were told

Some rebelled

 

The nine eleven generation grew up

Witnessing our nation under attack

They learned not to ask why

The sorrow of that day became a rage

That would last beyond a lifetime

One nation under God!

My nation right or wrong!

America love it or leave it!

They learned to follow without doubt

War for the sake of war

USA! USA! USA!

The nine eleven generation became

The Trump soldiers marching in lockstep

To destroy the very nation

They are pledged to defend

 

Many Voices

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DEMOCRACY

Many Voices

 

Democracy can only advance

When we recognize that there are more

Than two voices among the people

There must be more than two choices

To represent them

 

When every important issue in the world

Has the complexity of advanced trigonometry

Why are we compelled to choose between

Polar opposites?

 

Why is everything black and white

Yes or no, down or up, death or life?

 

We need a government that reflects

The diversity of the people

Multiple choices, multiple points of view

 

In this world of ever-increasing complexity

Nothing else will do

 

Another Day

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Another Day

 

Birds are singing in Beirut

In tribute to another day

Cicada in New Orleans

Bid welcome to the evening

Wolves howl in Wyoming

A prayer of yearning to the moon

Everywhere the morning sings

The evening sings refrain

Life in all its wonders awakens

Through the night and day

Even on the battlefield (Ukraine)

Even on the killing field (Sudan)

Even in a land of terror (Ethiopia)

Even in a lawless state (Columbia)

Nature rises to a bright new day

Singing harmonies of hope and faith

That this day will bring peace

That this day will awaken the spirit

Of brotherhood and generosity

That this day will end the war

That this day will silence the rage

That this day will give us the wisdom

To know that we are one

One people, one family, one planet

One miracle each day

 

The Pledge (America)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

The Pledge (Equality for All)

 

America!

Never have you woven such a tale

A man so brazen and so craven

All tests of credibility would fail

 

America!

We have chosen crooked men before

The epically immoral and amoral

But never one so twisted to the core

 

America!

You will survive this horrible attack

There always has and will be traitors

But the people rise to fight it back

 

America!

Your history is one of moral compromise

Genocide and slavery and liberty denied

In time you’ve learned to be more wise

 

America!

Bow your head in mortal shame

We should have known he was a snake

Take a vow to never say his name

 

America!

We stand as one and fight for you

You are the greatest hope of humankind

We pray your cause is just and true

 

America!

We work so that your honor will not fall

For everyone who pledges to your flag

For liberty justice and equality for all

 

Thirty-Seven Counts

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Thirty-seven Counts

 

Thirty-seven counts of federal crime

Not a single one is treason

Many counts of misconduct

Many more of malfeasance

 

When will he be brought to bear

For inciting a mob to violence

For organizing a coup d’état

The highest of all offense

 

He made a fool of government

He used us to make money

Some laughed at his buffoonery

But it was never really funny

 

Now he must go to trial

To stand before judge and jury

If they want to convict him

They’d better do it in a hurry

 

Thirty-seven counts of negligence

Thirty-seven counts of losing

Counts of hiding evidence

Does he still find it so amusing?

 

Democracy Endures

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Democracy Endures

 

“Democracy, while weapons were aimed

at your breast, I saw you give birth to

immortal children…, saw you with spreading

mantle covering the world.”

 

Walt Whitman, By Blue Ontario’s Shore

 

 

Democracy is much maligned (and wrongly so)

by would be tyrants who wish to bend the

world to their desires

 

Democracy endures

and she will always endure

for she is stronger than any tyrant’s will

She is greater than any brute force

She is fairer and far more appealing

than any false promise of prosperity

 

The beast will always wear the mask

of serene and gentle kindness

He will call you to his side

He will feed your barren pride

He will soothe and comfort you

He will promise you the sun the moon

and the myriad stars

But he will always throw you under

He will always betray you

He will always steal your last dollar

to further his own interests

He will offer your soul in place of his own

He will demand of you your sacrifice

before the altar of his throne

 

Democracy is the first last and only

defense against the triumvirate of tyranny:

the autocrat, the dictator and the king

She calls to you in times of trouble

and you the people must always rally

to her call

 

Incursion (The War Comes Home)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

Incursion

 

The war comes home

The inevitable consequence of aggression

The war comes home

Every action has its reaction

The war comes home

The bombs and missiles that once fell

Like the wrath of angry gods at war

On the homes of innocent civilians

Now fall like the devil’s vengeance

On the homes of your own people

 

The suffering you have wrought

Now comes to bear

The tears of mothers mourning

Now answer: Do you care?

 

There is a cost for your aggression

There is a price to pay

The destruction you have rained on others

Comes home to you today

 

Teasing Armageddon

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Teasing Armageddon

 

A near collision of mammoth warships

In the southern China Sea

An adolescent game of courage

A near cataclysmic tease

 

How far can China push us

Before disaster strikes?

The brink of Armageddon

Is this what you would like?

 

The Chinese think they own the sea

And all that lies within

The sovereign nation of Taiwan

Is where the war begins

 

We cannot play this horrid game

The grown-ups must hold sway

With the planet in the balance

We must find another way

 

Canadian Wildfires

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE

Canadian Wildfires

 

The smoke of Canadian wildfires

Rides the wind to the great northeast

The numbers run higher and higher

As the gods of destruction feast

The warnings so urgent and dire

The climate becomes the beast

 

When we cannot breathe the air

Without a mask to cover our face

You would think we’d agree everywhere

We are losing the climate change race

We don’t know how much we can bear

As we lose at an incredible pace

 

We know that the fires will spread

Each year as the temperatures rise

More and more of the land is dead

More and more of the wildlife dies

All because our future is wed

To a past of industrial lies

 

Train Wreck in India

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CATASTROPHES

Train Wreck in India

 

Twisted metal like sardine cans

Or bundles of aluminum foil

The wreckage piled over human bodies

The smell of flesh and oil

 

Heat beats down on rescue workers

Who labor through the night

A race to pull survivors out

While hope still holds the light

 

Bodies wrapped in sheets of white

Lain carefully on the ground

A grim and horror-stricken sight

We hear the mourning sounds

 

A woman cries for loved ones lost

A man releases swollen rage

A catastrophe at such a cost

A disaster for the age