Oh, Give Them

Oh give them some land to work with

and some water to make stuff grow.

Give them some tools to turn the earth over

and push all that dirt around,

productively.

Teach them to Plow it and disc it and

tend it and harvest it

and ship the Fruits of it out so folks can

Eat.

And give them some Water; we need

water.

Oh yeah let 'em eat drink and be merry.

Yeah, let 'em do all that

in this our promised land.

Let 'em slice it and dice it and

multiply, divide it.

Let 'em add this that and the other

and subtract what they think they don't need,

let 'em Seed and Feed.

Let the wise lead,

and hope they've chosen wisely.

Let the simple be fulfilled,

and not by their leaders be killed.

At the Wonder of it all, let us be thrilled.

Let us carve the earth and marvel at it all--

what we've done and what

we've made.

But hey, please don't let it go to our heads.

Instead, help us

Try to keep it in perspective with

some eyes on the big picture,

eyes on the prize

not obsessing with the size

of all this stuff.

Give us some Air to breath

and help us put on some wings and fly

Oh yeah

but help them limit our negative effects; let them

temper their intrusions, boost our inclusion.

We need to regulate it and yet we need

to deregulate it help us

figure all that part out that

delicate balance

sensitive valence.

We gotta prioritize it and sensibly control it.

Let 'em have a firm hand, a steady hand,

but, yeah, a gentle hand.

Let them take care in what they do with the earth

and the air.

Let them share;

and yes, be fair.

Yeah, let us be fair to one another,

and make sure there's enough to go around

for everybody. I'm not making this up.

Let them prosper and proceed

with their plans

but let them pray

today.

Yea, Let us pray.

Hey God. . .



Glass half-Full

Heathrow!

Heathrow!

Flight-catcher for the world

Trip-maker, Gate-shaker for planes,

Router of jets, and the globe's baggage handler

Moving, busy, enthralling,

Hub of all Western Orb-travellers:



How many flying souls have passed through your doors!

How many rushing feet thrashed your slickety floors,

after how many flights that o'erflown your Albion shores?



Beneath miles and miles of glist'ning glass,

flashing sunshine, while they pass--

myriad travelers of all class.



Hurry, scurry, flurry, don't show worry.

Slurp tea with breakfast, or take dinner with some curry.

But make your flight! catch that connection--hurry!



From far Mombosa, from far Bombay

from here, from there, every which-a-way

they pass like cattle every day.



Mega-beams of steel overhead--

they span a mega-traveled Heathrow shed

of tubular steel and electronic thread.



"Oh lovely Rita, security maid,

just scan my bags; don't make me late.

Why'd you take my gels?" I said.



While bags roll beneath the scan,

hurrysome travelers fly where they can,

'cross ocean, air, o'er sea and land.



Oh London bridges, what a town!

conducting travelers, up and down

through Heathrow gates the world around,



As planes go up, while flights abound

at Heathrow 'port, they do come down,

but not without a sound. They do astound

me.



Smoke