i hear the many voices speaking low
not in a strange way saying to do
things that should not done, rather whispering
of things I believe in that should be done...

the voices who cry for food and peace
are not so real in my mind
but real in their own mind
i know it be my conscience
that little voice
shown in old cartoons
as an angel saying in the wolf's ear
'do the right thing'
and that small red devil
waving a billowing cape
'saying that it isn't my job'.

i have my own list of stuff
with a slight more means i would more regular do
as skipping a meal a week for donation
given the hungery
drive a vehicle one notch lower
than i could afford
to free a few dollars to give each month
for one cause or another
if christian in the traditional sense
would tithe, at least from to be practical
my net income...

you know, just the little things
do the sometimes silly looking tasks
like recycle just a tiny bit better
and pick the right charity
to always give my used clothes
and select some on sale
non-perishable food stuff
to give to any okay food bank
and vote in every election.

and, of course, pray to any higher spirit
who might listen, for peace, real peace;
not cities, and nations, and communities
and persons in pieces; not giving our children
my child a legacy of hate and violence
and bigotry...

sometimes i find myself tripped and trapped
by when the real seems to trump the ideal
to respond in kind to those who
share not these simple views
to assign blames beyond or above or upon
peoples in circumstance past their abilities
to bring the changes i would wish for us all.

my mirror laughs sometimes at me
sometimes with me
over my own human imperfections
while i seek not to laugh
or overly bemoan the fact
of the imperfections of the rest of you.

it is easy and yet it is not
and i say again the serenity prayer
on a rainy day
with a sky that in the distance
shows the clouds a breaking
a heavenly light pastel blue
to replace a lingering grey...

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