The Split

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP DAZE

The Split (Trump v. Musk)

 

The overlords are splitting up

Before they’ve had a chance

To drink from the victory cup

To celebrate the great romance

Of MAGA and the billionaires

Who grabbed the rings of power

The old school lords now sit and stare

While the tech lords seize the tower

 

The split is like a major quake

A divide that only grows

When will the chosen leader wake

The people want to know

And whose side will he take?

The side of Musk or that of Bannon?

What difference will it make?

Could we toss them in a canyon?

 

There’s trouble everywhere you look

They don’t know what to do

No one wrote it in their book

Take either side you lose

One side will give you wealth

Beyond your wildest dreams

The other made you president

Now how much does that mean?

 

So take a peek at history

See how this story ends

It’s really not a mystery

There’s nothing left to spend

You cannot close the great divide

You cannot right this wrong

When you choose to stand with one side

It’s the last note of your song

Murder on Bourbon Street

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Murder on Bourbon Street

 

What kind of horror is this?

What kind of madness moved him?

With malice and murder aforethought

To trigger a chain of vengeance

To release a river of blood

To light the match of endless fire

When will it ever end?

 

Don’t tell us it’s the work of God

This is the deed of evil men

This is the depths of darkness

This is the hollow of despair

 

I have walked down Bourbon Street

In the city of the crescent moon

It is a place that embraces all

The diverse joys of life

A place to leave your trouble behind

Where love and wonder rise

In song and celebration

 

What kind of madness chooses

This time and place of jubilation

To execute an act of murder

Of cold-blooded deprivation

A vengeful act of inhumanity

To thrust this world into

An endless chain of terror?

 

When will it end?

When will we finally put down

The book of vengeance

And pick up the book of kindness?

 

Korean Crisis

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

Korean Crisis

 

The crisis in South Korea grows

Every day it is in stasis

The delay in justice only shows

The desperate times it faces

 

A democracy cannot endure

An absent state of power

The people now must be assured

The void ends this hour

 

The president did shameful harm

In declaring martial law

He falsely sounded an alarm

To expose a fateful flaw

 

His removal is well justified

To save the nation’s grace

The rule of law he did defy

His act was a disgrace

 

Now all in power must unite

Against self-serving factions

Behind the sovereign people’s rights

Self-government in action

 

Climate Year in Review

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

Climate Year in Review

 

The hottest January in recorded history

A drought in southern Africa

Crops and cattle die in masses

El Nino and the Warming

 

A March of oceanic rising

Average surface temp of 70 degrees*

The bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef

Threatening thousands of ocean species

 

An April heat wave in southern Asia

Too hot for schools in India

Too hot in Bangladesh

Too hot in the Philippines

 

From bad to worse in May

Wildfires incinerate wetlands in Brazil

The effects of warming and deforestation

 

In July Hurricane Beryl decimates Grenada,

Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines

 

August crowns the hottest summer ever

Wildfires strike the heart of Europe

 

September comes without relief

Floods destroy crops and displace hundreds

Of thousands in Chad and Nigeria

 

Hurricane Helene wreaks havoc in the

Southeast of the United States

 

October rain in the south of Spain

Strikes like a blast of thunder

A year’s worth of rain in a day

Killing over two hundred in Valencia

 

A rare November drought in the northeast

Of the USA turns leaves into tinder

And warming heat into flames

 

In December it’s official

The hottest year in millennia

Another year of climate change disasters

Another year of human neglect

 

We know what lies ahead

By observing what we left behind

Catastrophe after catastrophe

We simply put it out of mind

 

* Fahrenheit

American Empire

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

American Empire

 

What’s bigger than a business mogul?

A senator or president

What’s better than a president?

A king

What’s grander than a king?

An emperor

Of thee I sing

 

He wants a piece of Canada

The northern passage calls

He wants a slice of Panama

So he can build another wall

He wants to purchase Greenland

Their resources are sweet

He wants an American empire

To make his dream complete

 

Why not a piece of Mexico?

The swath around the border

Venezuelan oil beckons

Conquest by executive order

How about a piece of Uruguay

He could give it to his friends

He could use a stake in Africa

On this his hopes depend

 

It’s a new world order

And it’s just around the bend

The old world order

Is coming to an end

 

Putin: Without Restraint

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

Putin: Without Restraint

 

Bombing without restrictions

Killing without restraint

Killing journalists and children

They will hear no complaints

 

Kiev is in tatters

Ukraine is bombed to shreds

Putin does not care

How many families are dead

 

There’s a new sheriff coming

He will arrive in several weeks

Kill as many as you can

You can’t be seen as weak

 

They are killing throughout Kharkiv

Luhansk is laid to waste

Any chance of lasting peace

Will be lost in Putin’s haste

 

To slaughter all their enemies

To alienate their friends

To kill with full abandon

Before the war can end

 

Netanyahu: Without Restraint

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL & GAZA

Netanyahu: Without Restraint

 

Bombing without restrictions

Killing without restraint

Killing journalists and children

They will hear no complaints

 

Gaza is in tatters

Lebanon is bombed to shreds

Netanyahu does not care

How many families are dead

 

There’s a new sheriff coming

He will arrive in several weeks

Kill as many as you can

You can’t be seen as weak

 

They are killing throughout Syria

Beirut is laid to waste

Any chance of finding peace

Will be lost in Israel’s haste

 

To slaughter all their enemies

To alienate their friends

To kill with full abandon

Before the war can end

Remember Me

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

Remember Me

 

Remember me when the stars fall

From a sky of floating ash

Remember those who warned you

The end was coming fast

 

I know there is no comfort

In seeing past the bend

Where all is dread and dreary

Where darkness never ends

 

But do not fear or worry

There is little we can do

The die is cast in sorrow

The debt is coming due

 

Embrace your friends and family

As if it’s Christmas Eve

Their love will guide and warm you

When it’s time to mourn and grieve

 

When my time comes remember

I was one who saw it clear

The hard times and the warming

The end time drawing near

 

But hope will not abandon

For every end brings a new start

A vision of a better world

When this world falls apart

 

Spirits of Christmas

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Spirits of Christmas

 

The spirit of Christmas is giving

We celebrate with revelry

As long as we are living

We will decorate our tree

 

Unless of course we’re homeless

Or destitute and poor

Cursed with desperate loneliness

Then Christmas is no more

 

A holiday of majesty

A time of grace and cheer

Good fortune turns to tragedy

Our wonders turn to fear

 

So let us all be grateful

For the bounty we can share

As we enjoy our plateful

Let all know that we care

 

For the spirits are alive

Every day and every year

The giving spirit thrives

In all that we hold dear

 

Clemency (for Leonard Peltier)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE

Clemency (for Leonard Peltier)

 

Half a century behind bars

For crimes he did not commit

Fifty years proclaiming injustice

Five decades of taking the hit

For the crime of not being sorry

That the FBI agents were dead

For surviving the deadly shootout

That the FBI agents led

 

Way back in the year of seventy-three

On the Pine Ridge Reservation

At a place called Wounded Knee

In the heart of the Oglala nation

The American Indian Movement

Planted a staff and laid their claim

To justice the Indian way

 

For seventy* days they held their ground

Seventy days to the nation’s shame

Two warriors of AIM lost their lives

Though few can remember their names**

They remember the name of Leonard Peltier

For he alone took the blame

For the shooting of agents Coler and Williams

For the killing of both the same

 

Peltier was not at Wounded Knee

But he was chosen to pay the price

A person of native bloodline

Had to make that sacrifice

 

There is no justice in America

As long as Leonard Peltier is held

For the crimes of someone unknown

Half a century spent in hell

 

* seventy-one

** Frank Clearwater & Buddy Lamont

Friends and Enemies

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: SYRIA

Friends and Enemies (for Syria)

 

A friend becomes an enemy

An enemy becomes a friend

When circumstances dictate

Past problems we will mend

 

The world is a chess board

In which the pieces are exchanged

What once seemed so familiar

Now seems extremely strange

 

Whose side are you on boys?

On which side do you stand?

You stood with us today boys

Tomorrow you’ll disband

 

We’re sorry for the missiles

We’re sorry for the bombs

We’re sorry for mistaking

Which side you were on

 

Back then you fought for terror

We fought to free the land

We found it was in error

But now we understand

 

Our friends become our enemies

Enemies become our friends

If it never really matters

What message do we send?

 

Democracy in Syria

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

Democracy in Syria

 

We hold our breath and wait

To see what happens next

There is a promise of freedom

There is hope and good cheer

The people gather in the streets

Where they cautiously proceed

Who will grasp the reigns?

Who will seize the power?

Will they use it in good will?

Or will they build a taller tower?

 

We pray for better days

We pray for peace and prosperity

We hope they pave the way

To a thriving new democracy

And yes we have our doubts

We have seen this act before

The best intended efforts

Have been lost to civil war

Elon Musk

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

Musk

 

As Germany falls to pieces

As democracy yields to rust

We hear beneath the madness

The voice of Elon Musk

 

May we recognize his greed

May his empire be crushed

May his influence dissolve

With the fall of Elon Musk

 

As we mark his fascist leanings

May his castles turn to dust

As we understand his meaning

The hate of Elon Musk

 

With Trump and Putin by his side

May his enterprise go bust

His intention to divide us

The curse of Elon Musk

 

Let all the world awaken

To the truth of Elon Musk

May his values be forsaken

May he sacrifice our trust

 

(Musk supports the Neo-Nazi

AfD in Germany.)

The Christopher Wray Lament

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

Lament of Christopher Wray

 

The woeful reign of Christopher Wray

Marked by caution and weak delay

He paused when he should have hit the gas

He procrastinated and finished last

 

Even now he lacks the courage to stay

Instead of resistance he slowly fades

Nobody knows and nobody cares

Whether what he did was wise or fair

 

When it all came down he took a pass

When they hang his flag it will be half mast

He was so uncertain he pleased no one

He cashed his check and now he’s done

 

So here’s to you Mister Christopher Wray

You had your chance now go away

You might have had a huge impact

But you deferred and that’s a fact

 

(FBI Director resigns in advance of Trump.)

ABC Bends the Knee

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: JOURNALISM

ABC Bends the Knee

 

George Stephanopoulos misspoke

He took a step over the line

But if the Court was not a joke

What he said would be just fine

 

Freedom of the press is on the run

The warning is in place

The Bill of Rights is largely done

They will toss it in your face

 

The talking heads are bowing down

Leave your courage at the desk

A new journalism is in town

In propaganda we invest

 

The pundits and the powers

Are all bending at the knees

They’re all sacrifice and cower

They’re trying hard to please

 

We are a nation in retreat

We will toss away our rights

We’re telling everyone we meet

That this is not the time to fight

 

But if you’re having second thoughts

If you don’t like how it goes down

There’s still a battle to be fought

Find the guts to stand your ground

 

(ABC pays Trump millions to

settle a defamation suit.)

 

After the Fall

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: SYRIA

After the Fall (Syria)

 

Assad is gone

The brutal dictator has flown away

Seeking refuge in Moscow

Leaving the signs of his depravity behind

Torture chambers and detention centers

The blood of the murdered

The screams of the dead

Assad is gone and hope is reborn

Yet hope is tainted with doubt

The millions who have fled

The Assad reign of terror

Wait in uncertainty

They celebrate the moment

They embrace the possibilities

Yet they do not yet come home

No one knows what happens next

No one can make the call

After the fall

 

We pray it is better

How could it be worse?

Yet we do not know

Will the new regime be open?

Will it crack down on dissent?

Will it move toward democracy?

Or will it shatter into pieces?

Syria is a nation in search of itself

Already it is under siege

Already it is under attack

The days and weeks that follow

Will determine all

After the fall

To Kill a Man

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: DEATH PENALTY

To Kill

 

To kill a man in anger

To kill a man for cause

To kill a man for vengeance

To kill a man is wrong

 

I understand the rage

When an injustice is done

But there is no compensation

In picking up a gun

There is no grand salvation

In public execution

Let the hand of justice reign

Let it be firm and strong

But let it be without emotion

For that which soothes today

Tomorrow it may stun

 

To kill someone in anger

To kill someone for cause

To kill someone is wrong

Regardless of the laws

 

There are many who are evil

Who deserve a sudden death

Their crimes are so despicable

They steal away our breath

When justice takes them down

We will not shed a tear

We’ll celebrate the moment

And raise a rowdy cheer

But we will not kill in anger

To prove that we are strong

We will not kill for vengeance

Because killing is wrong