Monsoon

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL WARMING

 

Monsoon

 

Floods have taken hundreds of lives

In the Kashmir region of Pakistan

In a place that tests your will to survive

A harsh and unforgiving land

 

The floods trigger the landslides

A torrent of flowing mud

A river of death far and wide

A consequence of the flood

 

The monsoons visit every year

The people take it in stride

Bury the dead and shed their tears

Rebuild and stand with pride

 

Each year the rain grows stronger

Each year they bury more

The monsoon season is longer

The flashflood waters roar

 

This too is global climate change

And yet we hear no warning

It seems the earth is now estranged

In the years of the great warming

 

Fighting Fire with Fire

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

 

Fighting Fire

 

Texas started this fight

Will we turn the other cheek?

Knowing well it is not right

The fierce against the meek

 

Let’s be very clear

They are devaluing the vote

They very last thing you will hear

Is the sinking of the boat

 

They want to steal the next election

With their gerrymandering plan

They are spreading this infection

Hoping you won’t understand

 

Our democracy is at stake

If we fail to take a stand

Stop the steal, slam the brakes

Send a message across the land

 

You fight this fire with fire

That’s the only way it works

Our republic’s not for hire

To these power-hungry jerks

 

 

Saving Social Security

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AMERICAN POLITICS

 

Saving Social Security

 

The solutions to the problem of the

Social Security fund

The fund that ensures retirement

For each and everyone

Is not as complicated as politicians say

Just make a simple adjustment

To how much the wealthy pay

 

Extend collections upward

Adjust the payments down

Overnight the fund is solvent

And placed on solid ground

Make it a moving standard

Proportionate to the facts

We’ll call it by a simple name

The Saving Social Security Act

 

The elder folks should never be

Abandoned by the nation

From sea to glorious sea

Let’s offer up salvation

A fund that’s always guaranteed

That never will expire

A simple and eternal seed

When we grow old and retire

 

Police State

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: AUTHORITARIANISM

 

Police State

 

Crime in the district is down

Don’t let the facts get in the way

The Guard is coming to town

It’s law and order day

 

The district is not the first

They’ll be coming back to LA

From there it only gets worse

They’re coming to town to stay

 

There’ll be no more demonstrations

No more protests of any kind

Welcome to the police nation

Want a job? Get in line

 

They’ll have your number and your name

They’ll know exactly what you’re up to

The dirty immigrants are to blame

Put em all in an immigrant zoo

 

Your freedoms and your rights?

Just how much do they mean?

The dimming of the light

Among the worst we’ve ever seen

 

True History (revisited)

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUE HISTORY

 

True History (revisited)

 

Let’s replace true history

With a tale of American heroism

There isn’t any mystery

But a lot of phony mysticism

 

There were no civilized tribes

When the explorers crossed the sea

There never was a genocide

We let the natives be

 

The Africans were valued guests

They were never made to serve

Their lives were comforting and blessed

They got what they deserved

 

The internment of the Japanese

Was meant to keep them safe

Most of them were very pleased

They learned to know their place

 

Civil Rights came and went

But nothing really changed

All our rights were heaven sent

The protests are deranged

 

America is always right

We’ve never lost a war

We are the keepers of the light

We always lift the poor

 

(Trump orders a reorganization of

the Smithsonian to reflect his image

of American greatness.)

 

Immigration Man

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: IMMIGRATION

 

Immigration Man

 

Have you seen that immigration man?

Have you seen that immigration man?

Have you seen that immigration man?

I’ve been hearing his name all over this land

 

Looks just like a military man

Looks just like a military man

Looks just like a military man

Baton and rifle in his hands

 

Round em up and carry them away

Round em up and carry them away

Round em up and carry them away

Got no money? You ain’t got no say

 

Family man, wife and kids at home

Family man, wife and kids at home

Family man, wife and kids at home

Run and hide, forever you will roam

 

Farmer says they’ve got a job to do

Farmer says they’ve got a job to do

Farmer says they’ve got a job to do

The man says, we’ll take em when they’re through

 

Have you seen that immigration man?

Have you seen that immigration man?

Have you seen that immigration man?

I’ve been hearing his name all over this land

 

(after Woody Guthrie’s Vigilante Man)

 

The Fate of Ukraine

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: UKRAINE

 

The Fate of Ukraine

 

Ukraine is a sovereign state

In whole or in part?

Subject to negotiations

That long forgotten art

 

Zelensky may not attend

Discussions of his country’s fate

Europe’s promise to defend

Ukraine may come too late

 

Trump and Putin will decide

The nature of this “compromise”

They think Zelensky must abide

Despite the fact that Putin lies

 

Will we reward his war crimes?

His brazen act of aggression?

If we give him what he wants this time

What then will be the lesson?

 

That power trumps the force of law

That nations can be occupied

That everything we know is flawed

That decency can be defied

 

Do not allow this travesty

This outrageous abomination

For that would be a tragedy

Akin to subjugation