Produce

It's not usenet
 and it's not this Sun
  and it's not Miami
   or a big-bore gun.

It's not Suzuki
 or pineapple stew
  or panama hats
   or the Atlanta zoo.

Could it be a sunrise
 in polluted air
  or dirt seen from space
   where a basin's laid bare?

Or perhaps it's taxes
 or bureaucratese,
  but I don't think it's
   smelly, limburgher cheese.



Is it death and de-
 struction from the sky
  or office buildings
   that draw our eye

From the traffic tied up
 right at our feet
  and the wino sleeping
   in the filthy street?

Perhaps it already
 has passed away,
  turned back to dust
   and moldy decay,

All memories gone
 in a darkened well
  like the shadows at
   Hiroshima, in hell.



Most likely the best thing
 that man has done
  is to take the time
   to love a son;

To play with a daughter
 and love a spouse
  or play a piano
   and fix up the house;

To help a neighbor
 who's stuck in bed
  and plant a garden
   and share some bread

And work for the future
 (not forgetting the past)
  in a way that ensures
   that mankind can last.

Last updated: 29 Mar 1994

Copyright 1989 1994 Miles O'Neal, Austin, TX. All rights reserved.

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