Oh, but that I could enjoy the night!

Life’s poetry, the beautiful stars, the light!

The pleasant days, the sky blue, gentle wind;

A gentle lady’s love, her hand to win.

But alas, it is not possible to be,

While death’s shadow lurks behind every tree,

While global warming stalks the earthen plain,

Floods, fires, and starvation, drought, no rain.

While overpopulation terrorizes the land,

Forests decimated, axes in hand,

Human devastation everywhere,

Flora, fauna, extinction in the air!

While genocide is committed across the Earth,

This New Age struggling to be given birth,

An era of plenty and peace across the globe,

Waiting for its chance to cross the threshold.

So then I must be an agent of this change,

Protecting life, and the future of my name.

I cannot rest while injustice threatens near,

While terror is intimidating with fear,

While innocents cannot in security walk,

While citizens cannot in comfort talk.

Thus I am relegated to be aware

Of all the threats that are bandied in the air,

Of all the dangers that at night do lurk

Around each corner of the streets near where I work.

In my heart do I long for peace and love,

Two missing elements, a hand in a glove,

Camaraderie shared in common with warriors true,

And yet there is still so much left to do.

The masses must rise up a bit and follow

The Path of Truth, not the ignorant and the hollow,

The crushing time is coming, no mistake,

The ramifications of human action make

This next era in human endeavor pivotal,

A truly significant time, this is nothing trivial.

What we must do now is choose what seeds to sow

To see whatever future we will grow:

One dedicated to Life’s preservation;

The other the upshot of laziness and depravation.

Thus would I rather hoe tomatoes,

Than battle again with stupidity and the hateful,

But resigned am I to embrace my one true fate,

And do battle with the Devil if that’s what it takes.

NBS

Amtrak to Sacramento, 4-27-09