by Glenn Meisenheimer
© Copyright 2009 All Rights Reserved
If you had to pick an ending
Which one would it be?
Overpopulation,
Famine, war or poverty?
Maybe global warming
Or pandemic AIDS or flu?
Is that an end, you think, my friend,
That really pleases you?
There's economic meltdown,
Oil depletion, poison air
Perhaps atomic holocaust
Might be your favorite fare?
Then there's new technology
That we could fall prey to
Like bio-engineered bugs
Or nanotech grey goo.
It isn't any wonder
That we are feeling lost.
The problems facing us are huge
And don't forget the cost.
So we stock up on beer and chips
And keep away the blues
By tuning in the sitcoms
And turning off the news.
There is one thing that's clear to me
From the way that they have grown,
These problems will not go away
Simply on their own.
If history's any lesson
To get these problems solved
You gotta stand, roll up your sleeves
You gotta get involved!
What if old George Washington
Had turned his back and run?
If Ike had passed on Omaha
And D-Day was undone?
If Lincoln flinched on slavery
And Dr. King did too?
And Rosie never rivited
Or the wright boys never flew?
If Susan B. refused to vote
And Steinbeck never tried,
What would be left to make us great
To give us worth and pride?
I'm sorry folks, I gotta say
This isn't how it's done.
We simply don't throw up our hands
Before the job is done.
When we are faced with challenges,
To keep our country free
We have to think more of "us"
And a little less of "me"
