Arresting Democracy (France)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD DEMOCRACY

 

Arresting Democracy

 

What are we to make of the protests in France?

More of the same?

A familiar refrain?

Or something that cuts more deeply?

 

Macron has far too often turned

Too far to the right

Too eager to fight

On the side of the rich and privileged

 

He wants cuts in social spending

Spare those with wealth

Make cuts to health

The spirit of the French is ending

 

They are gathered on the streets again

To end the rule

To support the schools

They are tired of feeling betrayed

 

They are fighting with a brutal force

To stifle their voice

They have no choice

There must be law and order

 

But the people of France will have their say

They know their rights

They’re willing to fight

For France and the liberal way

 

Assassin's Bullet

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: VIOLENCE IN AMERICA

 

Assassin’s Bullet

 

We disagree on so many things

From defending Ukraine to building a wall

From whether angels really do have wings

To whom will be the next to fall

But we can agree on this one thing:

An assassin’s bullet is against us all

 

The powerful weapon that took him down *

Should never be allowed

Not on a safe and sacred ground

Nor a place with an assembled crowd

We wonder what the assassin found

That shamed or made him proud

That made his mind unsound

 

Whatever else can be said

That will move our hearts or stir our rage

A man who lived now is dead

He has left the living stage

He leaves behind the ones he loved

To suffer through this violent age

The soaring hawk, the lonesome dove

No more will he engage

 

* Charlie Kirk in Utah

 

Foot of the Mountains

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Foot of the Mountains

 

At the foot of the mountains

Where the river once was saved

Keep your silence and count ten

With one foot in the grave

 

I was running from nowhere

I was biding my own good time

I was holding my thoughts there

I was thinking thoughts in rhyme

 

There were clouds in a clear sky

I was riding on the waves

When a murder of crows came flying by

They were dealing in human slaves

 

Then a crash of floodwaters came

Like a booming river from hell

It was captured in the picture frame

I heard a ringing of the bells

 

At the foot of the mountains

Where once a preacher was slain

We drank from the mystic fountain

And the whole world went insane

 

Will we awaken before the end

Before it all goes out to sea

We can be certain it depends

On how long we let it be

 

Extrajudicial Killing

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN JUSTICE

 

Extrajudicial Killing

 

They announced a major victory

In the war against cartels

They killed eleven on the open sea

Then they rang the victory bell

 

Who among us would dare ask

Where is the evidence?

Were they wearing cartel masks?

Were their narco dollars spent?

 

Do we claim the right to kill

Without just and righteous cause?

Anyone we can and will

Without protection of the law?

 

You tell us they were terrorists

Importing killer drugs

Were their names on the terror list?

Are there photos of their mugs?

 

Is the law not for others?

Are you the ones who will decide?

Justice for one but not another?

Protections only for our side

 

This is a fundamental wrong

One that cannot be denied

It belies the weak, not strong

The day that justice lied

 

(US blows up a speedboat off the

coast of Venezuela.)

 

America the Free

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

America the Free

 

This is not the Philippines

Where Duterte had his reign

We know what independence means

We will not be restrained

 

This is not Beijing

Where they have an iron fist

Where freedom has no meaning

Where they keep an enemies list

 

This is not the Kremlin

Where Putin is their king

Where dissenters are imprisoned

Where elections are a sting

 

This is not Pyongyang

In service to dear leader

When Lady Liberty rang

They replied they didn’t need her

 

This is the land of liberty

America the free

Where individuality

Belongs to you and me

 

This is the land of light

No man above the law

Where fundamental rights

Are not considered flaws

 

Where everyone is free

To speak as they will speak

To be what they would be

To seek what they would seek

 

 

Cooking the Books

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP

 

Cooking the Books

 

If you don’t like the message

Kill the messenger

If you don’t like the numbers

Cook the books

 

Pretty soon you’ve got no messengers

Pretty soon there are only sycophants

Bobble headed yes men

Afraid to tell the truth

 

The war is lost, your majesty.

Off with his head!

Your program is a travesty.

Take a pill and go to bed!

 

He’s a mob boss not a king

He rules by fear and terror

If he wants to wear a ring

You will be the ring bearer

 

What kind of man is this?

To tell us how we feel

He may tell us this is bliss

But we know it isn’t real

 

(Trump fires head of the

Bureau of Labor Statistics)

 

The Nordic Front

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

The Nordic Front

 

Putin made a fool of our president

Laying on the authoritarian charm

But he signed a deal that delivered

To Kiev most critical arms

 

Funded by the Nordic front

Sweden, Denmark and Norway *

We hope that Russians feel the brunt

Before their attentions stray

 

America will not take the lead

All of Europe will do their share

We no longer feel a pressing need

The burden now is theirs

 

But the Nordic front is next in line

If his thirst is not contained

Poland, Hungary, Liechtenstein

May begin to feel the strain

 

For now it is a regional war

Confined to former Soviet states

But victory leads to desire for more

Wake up before it’s too late

 

America will be left behind

With a leader who is sleeping

And a congress that is nearly blind

May leave the whole world weeping

 

* and the Netherlands

 

Putin and Xi

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Putin and Xi (and Modi)

 

Putin meets with Xi

The monster of the north

Meets the beast of the east

What does it mean going forth?

 

The invasion carries on

As the monster stakes his claim

The whole world knows he’s wrong

We will not forget Ukraine

 

Kiev expresses fear

That America will refrain

That the end is drawing near

But we won’t forget Ukraine

 

Ukraine would be the first

But it would not be the last

Nor would it be the worst

Another war would come to pass

 

Thanks to Putin and to Xi

The end of human rights

A massive loss of dignity

Democracy in plight

 

Now Modi joins the fray

On the wrong side of the line

From the republic he will stray

To lead his nation in decline

 

 

Defending Democracy

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

Defending Democracy

 

Defending democracy is a fulltime job

It cannot be taken for granted

Its enemies will cheat and rob

Make sure your staff is planted

 

They’re coming after the voting place

They’re sending out their brutes

They’ll make it hard to win the race

They’re thugs in designer suits

 

They’ll attack anyone who opposes them

From the powerful to the local mayor

They’ll rip you up from root to stem

If you ask them, they don’t care

 

Stealing the vote is an old tradition

On both sides of the aisle

Every voter must now take a position

Is democracy still in style?

 

The right to vote is no longer given

The Supreme Court gave it away

We must be grim and hardline driven

To keep what our founders gave

 

Winning our Nation Back

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

 

Winning our Nation Back

 

Remember who you voted for?

Is this what you demanded?

We ought to show you to the door

You should be reprimanded

 

Soldiers on the city streets

A steady increase in inflation

Scorn for everyone you meet

An authoritarian nation

 

They’re ruling with an iron fist

There is no law and order

We’re breathing in a toxic mist

Fixation on the border

 

They’re finding ways to fix the vote

To steal the next election

They’re hiding guns beneath their coats

It’s heading that direction

 

If you want to take our country back

Please know it won’t be easy

Their train is sliding off the tracks

They’re brutal and they’re sleezy

 

So get ready for a vicious fight

They will go to any measure

They don’t believe in doing right

Brutality gives them pleasure

 

Pariah

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: ISRAEL AT WAR

 

Pariah (for the people of Israel)

 

Remember the cry of Jeremiah

Who prophesied a cruel fate

You would become a pariah

For the sins of the Israeli state

 

You are descendant of Jedidiah

Who turned against the north

Who then became his own pariah

Whose cruelty called forth

 

The end of days for humankind

A legacy of blood and war

The prophecies will fall in line

As the Beast of Yafo roars

 

It’s time to hear that cry again

To heed that warning call

Repent for cruel and callous sins

Or the state of Israel will fall

 

No one wants to see that fall

Or to hear the angels moan

The crumbling of the ancient wall

When Israel stands alone

 

The Cycle

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: MASS SHOOTINGS

 

The Cycle

 

Killing children in Minneapolis

The vicious cycle repeats

The cycle of the irrational

The cycle is never complete

 

Killing children in Gaza

The cycle of killing goes on

The deliberate killing of journalists

The infinite cycle of wrong

 

The cycle of endless violence

We hear the tired voices

Calls for prayer, moments of silence

We’re left without any choices

 

We pray to the second amendment

To protect us from all harm

With guns we live in contentment

While we fail to raise alarm

 

The cycle goes on forever

As we live in a world of hate

If the right to arms is revered

The cycle is our fate

 

Lowering Crime in New Orleans

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

 

Lowering Crime in New Orleans

 

The murder rate is down

Violent crime? The same

Crime is lower all around

There’s no one left to blame

 

How did this miracle happen?

Did they summon the National Guard?

It happened in the way back when

Katrina slammed N’Orleans hard

 

The poor folk of the Big Easy

Were scattered far and wide

Few returned to their poverty

Their old haunts were gentrified

 

The Guard was never needed

They spread the crime around

A new way of life was seeded

And planted on higher ground

 

So if you want to change your city

Let New Orleans show the way

Just reinvent it nice and pretty

Let the wealthy come to play

 

Round up all the poor folks

And scatter them around

Laugh like it’s a private joke

Reinvigorate your town

 

 

The Price of Freedom

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

The Price of Freedom

 

You never know the price of freedom

Until your freedom’s gone

Just when you think it could not come

There are soldiers on your lawn

 

The Guard is in the square

They’ll ask you for your name

The police are everywhere

They want someone to blame

 

They’re rounding up the workforce

To ship them to the border

With a vow to stay the course

In the name of law and order

 

They don’t need to show you cause

Their guns will tell you all

In defiance of the law

You’re up against the wall

 

You wonder how it came to this

How we let it slip away

One day they put you on a list

There is a price to pay

 

Now freedom’s just a memory

Of how it used to be

When we were a democracy

This land of liberty