i
want
to sing
a happy song
one
like
i’d heard before
but
i can’t recall
or
find the words
and
the only chords
i hear
are those
of
discord
even in the pews
where
psalms
of
love
once
filled the air
now
are
permeated
with
putrid
political
incantations
from
self-deified saints
who merely
sing hate’s sour notes
or
mouth the words
and
meaningless meanderings
of
every charlatan
that’s
ever lived
but
if you happen
to
know the tune
and
better yet
the words
please
sing
it loud enough
that
we may
all
hear it
again
you’ve become aware that what would have made you great always had to wait all your dreams had been consumed by those you believed you loved time has not waited for you
when the misery
we see
is in eyes
that look
like
ours
our hearts
open up
and
we hear
there
but
for the grace of
that’s
when we
offer up
a small portion
of
self-pity
to another
such
self-centered behavior
no doubt
feels
good for a while
but
like
a child’s
out of sight
out
of mind
stage of development
the misery
is soon
forgotten
tragic events always seem to bring out the comparisons how tough things were before or how good someone has it now but when it strikes a child we retreat from our usual self-pity dialogues and question life’s fairness we compare our childhood with the one this child will never have asking why what has this child done that all of heaven has forsaken them there’s never a suitable answer just the old god works in mysterious ways or it’s his will neither ever addresses the real question why a child and not those who brought about the child’s death
it went unnoticed but a sparrow died today didn’t make the news like the deaths of some children children worldwide of color isn’t it strange how valueless some lives are made
recall my dear friends we hear through our memories words said have been said their first intentions linger words become symbols of pain no matter who presents them
Read Between the Minds 