Do (a poem)

GATHER ALL YOUR THOUGHTS SPREAD THEM ON THE FLOOR WAKE UP ALL YOUR DREAMS SHOW THEM TO THE DOOR AWAY PUT ALL YOUR LIES AND HATRED TO THE CORE PACK UP ALL YOUR FEARS WON'T NEED THEM ANYMORE THROUGH TRIUMPHS AND DENIALS DOUBLE TWISTS TURNS AND TRIALS COUNT THE WAYS AND DO THE MATH KNOW YOURSELF AND CHOOSE YOUR PATH ETERNITY WILL SHINE UPON THE LEGACY YOUR NAME IS ON DESTINY'S BUT A GUIDING LIGHT IT'S UP TO YOU TO DO WHAT'S RIGHT... ...DO WHAT'S RIGHT

Must the coin have two sides?

...Hmmmm. What do I say about this... I was listening to the song Slide by The Ocean Blue and it tripped a switch in my brain and this little poem flowed out in about ten minutes. If it comes across as preachy. That's good because that's what I was doing. Preaching. Not religious dogma, but rather promoting an end to apathy. A call for an end to the destruction and the violence that has become a staple of the Nightly News. The violent senseless slaughter beamed into our homes as we gather with our families and eat our dinners. Or do people even do that anymore? We as a species are capable of such beauty and compassion when we choose. And this enriches the giver as well as the receiver. The human animal has created stunning works of art and ingenuity yet still wages endless war on our own children. We are consumed by severe degrees of long-term anger and harbor such dark blood-thirsty hatred toward others who perpetrate the same acts as we do. Each thinking "we'll behave better, as soon and they do". And the cycle continues on and on. How and why are we even capable of this dichotomy? How do we do the right thing? How do we even know what's right anymore? Whom do we trust to guide us? Granted the current forces of conflict are generations deep and socially complicated and determining the "right" thing is often contingent on which side of the razor-wire fence you call home. But when you strip away all the differences, all the barriers and dividers, we as a species all need the same thing to survive and thrive. And realizing these basic needs and affording them to others is the first step on the path to civilization. For all of us. We're not there yet, but we mustn't stop striving. Just a thought. Just a hope. From just one of us. - Darren Wheeling (6-24-2002)