My Dream by Bob Atkinson

My Dream

(c)2012 Bob Atkinson

my dream is of a country

of many different ways

that which is different

that which is the same

that which gives

and that which takes

and that which lays out strong

pretty cities in vast flat valleys

clearly flowing water falls

deep harbors at her oceans

where ships come and go

to transfer our great wisdom

to so many other folks

that which we conquer

because of who we are

proves we are responsible

top dogs and best at arts

my dream is that we become

not dependent upon the chance

for storm and ice and heat of night

to break our brothers' backs

my dream is that we

not fight to prove who's right

killing persons should hold horror

not fists held to the sky

those awful sinful motives

false justification for wrong lives

props up the cycle of violence

that brings misery to all eyes

if selfish in our actions

by giving power only to our bands

we find we have retreated

in our desire to hold good stand

this takes us back to the primitive

and preys upon those falsehoods

some teach to their own kind

raising useless little broods

my dream holds that we

build cities that will last

tall and long which connect together

other towns within our lands

let them not rise above

ugly streets paved with black asphalt

with lines of power strung as if 
like a frayed wicker basket

spires are not well thought out

take so much to time to build

they give us not the beauty

or function we need shining through

if we build the better way

we can organize

a country where all the lands

reach for all outstretched hands

long, along the highways

nearly high up to the clouds

our cities need reach to the east

and west at the same time

trains held within their ribbons

that give all access to

everyone so we can feel harmony

if that's what we want to do

let the rocks fall on our heads

let the ocean waves

wash ashore in high shelves

our lives will be the same

because we have learned

barbarity isn't pride

spitting into faces prompts

sadness in all our lives

we should find it isn't right

to kill those whom we oppose

while licking our own wounds

sitting in our rubbled homes

why not join together?

in desires as exposed

building lives of peaceful dreams

the good life for all we know