The History of Me

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: THANKSGIVING

 

History of Me

 

We made our way across the sea

Way back in 1493

At Plymouth Rock we planted seeds

That’s the history of me

 

We were cold and we were hungry

The natives gave us aide

They answered to our desperate plea

We bowed our heads and prayed

 

We founded thirteen colonies

The British tried to tax our tea

Our people said no thank you please

That’s the history of me

 

A hundred years we traveled west

We settled in the rolling hills

We thought to stay and have a rest

The buffalo were killed

 

We did what we were led to do

We were a different breed

We always wanted something new

That’s the history of me

 

A thousand years of slavery

A long and bloody civil war

Tales of death and bravery

The reaper at the door

 

The dust bowl pushed us out again

Until we reached the other sea

Degraded everywhere we’d been

That’s the history of me

 

We’re proud and we’re determined

To leave a better legacy

We tired of the sermon

That’s the history of me

 

(Happy Thanksgiving Eve!)

 

A Hero in Chicago

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POLICE STATE

 

Marimar Martinez

 

Shot down like a rabid dog

On a rampage in Chicago

When they finally cleared the fog

The facts were clearly known

 

She sounded an alarm

To the folks in her community

They meant to do her harm

To break Chicago’s unity

 

But cameras showed the story

The border agent lied

They stripped him of his glory

He’s lucky no one died

 

He tried to take her life

For standing up to her convictions

You could cut it with a knife

The tension and suspicions

 

You are not wanted here

Go back to where you came from

You are only spreading fear

Like the pounding of a war drum

 

Marimar is a hero

A bold and shining light

A light that ever grows

A force for good and right

Congo Mining Disaster

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Congo Mining Disaster

 

Desperation breeds carelessness

Carelessness yields death

The Congo is a wilderness

Where the people hold their breath

 

A hundred people died today

In a crudely dug gold mine

The Congolese have little say

They’re stuck with what they find

 

A nation torn in civil war

Devoid of law and order

Arms are given to the poor

To defend a crooked border

 

The people live in poverty

They have no honest choice

They lack a true democracy

They have no honest voice

 

Violence is their only means

Of getting what they need

Poverty is what they’ve seen

A land of corporate greed

 

So miners go beneath the ground

To dig for precious gold

The mines are neither strong nor sound

In time they will not hold

 

A hundred people die today

A hundred more tomorrow

Until there is another way

The Congo lives in sorrow

 

 

Takaichi Speaks the Truth

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Takaichi Speaks the Truth

 

To speak the truth is dangerous

To a political career

Sometimes the truth will follow us

And swallow us with fear

 

Sanae Takaichi, leader of Japan

Has spoken true and clear

It was long past time to take a stand

For Taiwan is near and dear

 

Should China violate the truce

In defiance of all laws

Japan would surely have to choose

To yield or show its claws

 

The Chinese seem to get their way

Though often they are wrong

All nations have a price to pay

From the weakest to the strong

 

If China moves against Taiwan

There will be a resistance

With consequences hard and long

Taiwan will get assistance

 

Do not become a hated land

A land of cold aggression

Don’t force the world to take a stand

Taiwan is your obsession

 

 

The Land of Allende

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LATIN AMERICA

 

The Land of Allende

 

In the land of Pinochet and Allende

Where Latin American democracy

Rose up against the authoritarian tide

And fell against the same

Where the champions of the North

Changed sides by backing a military coup

 

We’re not about to let the will of the people

Stand in the way of American interests *

 

Chileans are facing a critical choice

A communist who is not a communist

Against a republican who is not a republican

The way of the ballot box

Or the way of the bullet

The gentle hand or the iron fist

Reason against rationalization

Persuasion against force

The path of social justice

Or the path of grim austerity

Jeannette Jara or Jose Antonio Kast

The people must choose

 

Choose wisely

For to make the wrong choice

May outlast a generation

 

* Henry Kissinger

 

Wag the Dog (Venezuela)

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LATIN AMERICA

 

Wag the Dog (Venezuela)

 

What do presidents do

When the bottom drops out?

When they’ve already lost one shoe

And there’s little left but doubt?

 

They start a war with paper tiger

Someone that doesn’t have a chance

Someone who will not push it higher

But will show up for the dance

 

It seems Maduro fits the bill

He’s well known as a bad guy

If we don’t get him someone will

We’ll frame him with a lie

 

Just like we did in Vietnam

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

We don’t really give a damn

But we’ll make it a solution

 

The problem is it never works

The people will strike back

The invaders are always seen as jerks

When a foreign force attacks

 

It didn’t work in Vietnam

In Afghanistan or Iraq

The people sense a phony scam

Like a rabbit smells a hawk

 

American Gestapo

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POLICE STATE

 

American Gestapo

 

A secret agent of the state

That targets a minority

Enough to make us contemplate

The darkest page of history

 

They have money in their bank

Without constraint of oversight

They could buy a Sherman tank

And roll it down the street at night

 

No one wants them in their town

No one wants them in their city

They only take good people down

In a way that’s never pretty

 

They no longer have a place

In a land that’s free and just

If they vanished without a trace

Few would grieve or even cuss

 

For they’ve earned the scorn of all

Who hold our values in esteem

As they rise our virtue falls

We who hold on to the dream

 

Please believe us when we say

Your kind is never wanted here

Yours will never be our way

For we hold the promise dear

 

Shame

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Shame

 

As nations gather in Brazil

In concern for global warming

Say what you can and what you will

It’s getting late for warnings

 

Shame on those who are not here

Shame on the deniers

Like a ship without a mate to steer

Or a flame inside a fire

 

The United States is not alone

But lonely in its absence

In time all nations must atone

For now they stand in silence

 

China stands with Mexico

Australia with Japan

The absentees begin to grow

To the detriment of man

 

It seems we are not capable

Of seeing past tomorrow

We’re content with being stable

While we wallow in our sorrows

 

But time is not our friend

When the planet is in danger

We’re barreling towards the end

In a world that’s growing stranger

 

BBC V. Donald Trump

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUMP

  

BBC V. Donald Trump

 

The Donald took his shakedown

Across the Atlantic Sea

But his vengeance cruise ran aground

When he faced the BBC

 

We all watched as it went down

A clear attempt at a violent coup

Their report* was on solid ground

Though the Donald’s rage but grew

 

He challenged an angry mob

To assault the people’s house

He proclaimed revenge as his job

Whipped them up til they were roused

 

He told them he would lead them

Like a commander leads an attack

In the end he’d only bleed them

Before he finally walked it back

 

The man was guilty as bloody hell

The BBC should stand its ground

The day the republic almost fell

Their report was fully sound

 

* BBC report on January 6^th

Homeland Security

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

 

Homeland Security

 

Homeland Security was supposed

to protect us from terrorist attacks

Now they’re rounding up immigrants

on the streets of our cities

They’ve become a force of oppression

A force that the people fight back

 

This is the way of law enforcement

This is the way of intelligence agencies

They may begin with good intentions

But they gather power like shit gathers flies

They become the instruments of some

madman’s misbegotten lies

 

Are there no real terrorists to fight?

Or have they dropped the ball once again?

Are they on the job or have they lost sight?

Just like they did way back then

 

They don’t belong on the streets of LA

They should not be doing the job of ICE

Go back to you origin and find a way

Or we will all be paying a steep price

 

 

The Fall of Bolivar

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LATIN AMERICA

 

The Fall of Bolivar

 

The last stand of Simon Bolivar

The father of Latin American democracy

The nation named in his honor

Home to the first indigenous president

Defender of democratic socialism

Fallen to the forces of capitalism

 

One wonders if democracy can survive

For capitalism so often prefers strongmen

 

That it has survived in the northern hemisphere

In western Europe and America

Gives proof that elements of socialism and

Capitalism can coexist with democracy

 

That democracy is so often threatened

In capitalist dominated countries

(a list that now include the United States)

Gives proof that the forces opposed to socialism

Are the forces opposed to democracy

 

The autocrats are lining up against us

Social democracy is at risk

Democracy itself is threatened

Bolivar has fallen but the fight goes on

The people must rise to find a way

 

(Rodrigo Paz elected president of Bolivia) 

Orban the Despotic

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL POLITICS

 

Orban the Despotic

 

Victor Orban and Donald Trump

The despot and the wannabe

When Orban yells his people jump

The dream the Donald dreams

 

There is no opposition

He puts them all in jail

He believes in superstitions

Orban the Great can never fail

 

They share an admiration

For the empires of old

They’d love to lead their nations

In thrones of purest gold

 

They subvert their constitutions

With every kind of measure

Like destroying institutions

That expose their dirty pleasures

 

Orban should go back home

We don’t need his tactics here

Your final days will come

We pray those days are near

 

 

Words

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: POEMICS

 

Words

 

Socialism is economics

A counterpoint to capitalism

Democracy is politics

A counter to authoritarianism

 

Don’t be afraid of words

When you don’t know what they mean

Don’t believe what you’ve heard

Question most of what you’ve seen

 

Communism does not exist

In any nation, town or state

If someone calls its name resist

And check the expiration date

 

Those who use these words to scare

Should not be trusted or embraced

They’re on the sly and do not care

They lack for honesty and grace

 

Words are charged with hidden meaning

They can mislead you and deceive

Some words could use a thorough cleaning

They have something up their sleeves

 

 

Hope Rises

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

 

Hope Rises

 

Hope rises like the Phoenix

And crashes like a bomb

Take a breath, make a wish

Decide what side you’re on

 

When you’re on the side of hope

You’re a moment from despair

From worrying how to cope

To doubting why you care

 

When hope rises from the dust

Every day becomes bright

When we shake off all that rust

We set out to make it right

 

We are the hopeful warriors

Just like we’ve always been

We’re workers and we’re lawyers

We’re ready to fight again

 

For hope rises with the sun

And hope falls in the deep of night

The long war cannot be won

Yet we will always seek the light