Overcome (for MLK)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Overcome 

 

The sickness and the sorrow

Invades my soul this day

Of all the things I know

No one reveals the way

I don’t know where I’m going

I don’t know where I’m from

And yet I still believe

We shall overcome

 

I walked a lonely mile

With Bobby and the King

I marched into the setting sun

When he sang Let Freedom Ring!

There’s nothing left of them

But the instrument I strum

And yet I still have faith

We shall overcome

 

We overcame the monarch

We overcame the Klan

We overcame the royalists

Who fought the Rights of Man

I hear the soldiers crying out

The pounding of the drums

We will not turn and run this day

We shall overcome

 

I bathed in sacred waters

I reached a distant shore

When hunger stood before me

I knocked upon the door

She said I have no whiskey

But I’ve got a little rum

I shed a tear of joy and said

We shall overcome

 

Ecuador

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Ecuador

 

Ecuador is a lawless state

A hostile takeover by drug cartels

A legacy of corruption

Transformed a nation into hell

 

Ecuador is a sinking ship

It has signaled its distress

To fight against the drug lords

She needs the armies of the west

 

We are in an age when nations

Are no longer strong enough

To fight back against the cartels

That have become military tough

 

This is greater than any nation

It goes beyond mere law and order

It is a metastasizing monster

That crosses every border

 

If you want to solve the problem

Join together in full force

Fight against a common foe

And over time hold the course

 

Taiwan

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Taiwan

 

Taiwan will not surrender

They refuse to bend the knee

They have sent the world a message

From across the China Sea

 

The voters faced a choice

To hold an independent course

Or to yield to the power of China

With it superior military force

 

They voted with their hearts

Not assured where it will lead

The beast may rear its head

Or plant a million seeds

 

The mainland is unphased

They choose to bide their time

Taiwan lives in their shadow

Despite an independent mind

 

What does the future hold?

No one living really knows

Each time the monster flexes

Our worries only grow

 

The War Zone

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WAR

The War Zone

 

Every week by small degrees

The zone of conflict grows

From Lebanon to Yemen

Each side lands another blow

 

The Red Sea passage is open

But it is subject to attack

The flow of oil is threatened

The Houthis will strike back

 

There is more than meets the eye

In the growing zone of war

The pieces are in motion

Across the world’s chessboard

 

We know all the players

The proxies and the powers

Each move pushes forward

Toward the final hours

 

This is not a game of intellect

To exercise our minds

If we fail to see the whole

We are playing the game blind

 

Genocide in Gaza

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GAZA

Genocide in Gaza

 

The holocaust that some deny

The annihilation of the Jews

When millions of people died

Though the Nazi side would lose

 

While the destruction of Gaza fails

When a comparison is applied

To reach that horrific scale

It should not be denied

Israeli vengeance is off the rails

And the world cannot abide

 

The forced removal of a people

From the place where they reside

The destruction of their homeland

So vast, so deep, so wide

The mass killing of civilians

With nowhere to run or hide

There is no other word

No other construct to describe

A deliberate state of madness

That word is genocide

 

(South Africa accuses Israel before

the International Criminal Court.)

A New Coalition

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

A New Coalition

 

Old school politics are dead and gone

The Grand Old Party is a fraud

The politics of right and wrong

Give a smile and spare the rod

The weakest ones are now the strong

There’s never been a party of God

We knew better all along

That road has been well trod

 

We need a brand-new coalition

Free of what we’ve done before

No more props or superstitions

Shove the old guard out the door

Say goodbye to politicians

We don’t want you anymore

 

If you believe in democracy

Join together and be heard

All our voices against autocracy

United is the sacred word

 

United for our legacy

United in our vote

United against our enemies

United in our hope

Tears of Palestine

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: JERUSALEM

Tears of Palestine

 

“I walk and count the bones of my beloveds

Along the Valley of Destruction.”

 

Wm. Blake, Jerusalem (1820)

 

The tears of Jerusalem became the tears of

Palestine that together formed a river  

that flowed into the sea.

 

Endless is the sorrow and the mourning of

the mothers and the anger of the fathers

and the vows of vengeance that the sons

and daughters carried through the ages

of antiquity.

 

The tears of Palestine became the tears of

Jerusalem that together formed a river

that flowed into the sea.

 

There is no peace on earth

Nor can there ever be

Until at last we find a cure

for this ancient blood disease

 

Dark before Dawn

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

Dark before Dawn

 

All the chips are stacked against you

Your back is up against the wall

There is no one you can turn to

There is no one you can call

It seems the fateful tide is turning

Like the rush before the fall

You have let your hopes be taken

In the morning you’ll be gone

It always seems the darkest before dawn

 

We will rise again tomorrow

We will find a way to bend

We will melt into the shadows

With a message we will send

They have only won the battle

It’s not over till the end

We will find a deeper courage

We will sing our mourning song

It always seems the darkest before dawn

 

We will fight with all our strength

We will refuse to give in

When it seems we’ve reached the end

We will begin again

For we are on the side of justice

For the righteous we will win

We must defeat an enemy

Whose cause is dark and wrong

It always seems the darkest before dawn

 

(for Ukraine)

Staring Down the Barrel (for Ukraine)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

Staring Down the Barrel

 

We knew what were in for

We were always on the run

We were heading for the exit

Underneath a setting sun

Like a woman on a tight rope

One wrong step and we’re done

We were staring down the barrel

of a gun

 

We were desperate and afraid

Like a child that has no one

We were carrying a load

That must have weighed a ton

We were running short on luck

No one lost and no one won

We were staring down the barrel

of a gun

 

When we awakened in the morning

We were naked and alone

All our friends and trusted allies

Had given up and gone home

We were all out of trying

We were down and we were done

We were staring down the barrel

of a gun

 

(for Ukraine)

Days of Freedom

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Days of Freedom

 

There was a time we walked the streets

Free and easy like a charm

No one could tell us where to go

No one could do us any harm

Now they stop us everywhere

To rob us of our peace

To steal away our memories

Of the days when we were free

 

Like a lover from our dreams

Like a hero in a song

The days of freedom linger

We will miss her when she’s gone

 

We will take a vow of memory

A promise never to forget

The days when we were free

The nights when we first met

We held on for our lives

Like we were riders on a jet

They sang of us in Singapore

It rang across the sea

Always we’ll remember

The days when we were free

 

Like a lover in a dream

Like a hero in a song

The days of freedom linger

We will miss her when she’s gone

 

(for Democracy in Hong Kong)

 

The Storming of the People's House

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Storming of the People’s House

 

The people of Paris stormed the Bastille

14 July 1789 to overthrow a despotic

government. A monarchy, an aristocracy,

hereditary succession, a royal king.

 

In Washington the people stormed congress

6 January 2021 to overthrow an elected

president, to install a monarchy, hereditary

succession, an aristocratic king. 

 

The storming of the Bastille toppled the

king, introduced the guillotine and begat

the Reign of Terror, a river of blood that

swallowed its leader: Maximilien

Robespierre.

 

The storming of the people’s house fell

short of its goal, dozens of instigators

captured and jailed while its leader went

free, opening the door to a period of

uncertainty and the promise of revenge.

 

The storming of the Bastille was a turning

point in history; one by one the monarchs

fell, replaced by elected governments,

representative democracies that shined

from Europe to across the sea. 

 

The storming of the people’s house is an

unfinished story: a defense of democracy

or its tragic fall? A period of unrest or a

reign of terror? For better or for worse,

let the people decide. 

 

Tears of a Tyrant

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: PUTIN

Tears of a Tyrant

 

Vlad is not the actor

He believes himself to be

When he cries his tyrant tears

The honest truth is plain to see

 

He is a brutal madman

Who started a war of choice

Do not believe his feigned sorrow

That subtle quiver in his voice

 

Ukraine has an innate right

To strike back against the invader

If Vlad were Mother Russia

All decent folks would hate her

 

Stop what you are doing

The people know and understand

The show that you are putting on

Is the act of a desperate man