Visions

The visual environment influences
Each child from infancy.
When I arrive on this planet
These are the first things I see:

Marching in Alabama.
A man called Martin Luther.
Four dead at Kent State,
Our soldiers, the shooters.

You can ride the bus.
And yet, we're line walking.
You can surely lose your life
For simple truth talking.

They're shooting down marchers
And civil rights fighters.
Show up to protest and they
Squeeze the blue line tighter.

The poor and hungry call for help
Too weak to dance or sing.
They're nuking in Nevada,
Life don't mean a thing.

There's riots down in Watts.
There's more junk in space.
Yet some still only see the color,
And not the HUMAN RACE.

A Buddhist sets himself aflame
Way over in Vietnam.
But even that's not gonna stop
The planes, the war, the bomb.

They're throwing stones at Martin.
But he won't stop, it seems.
You can kill the man,
But you can't kill the dream.

Arrests go down in Oakland,
And that will happen again,
In the year 2012, when
This world's predicted to end.

History will keep repeating itself,
Of that you can be sure.
Until each and every one of us
Decide to end all war.

I look in the mirror and
I don't know what to do.
First I have to clear my mind
Of everything I ever knew.

Programmed from the day I was born
To hate and have no heart.
Somehow, I still have love,
And yet, we're still apart.

But how can my mind survive
Living in today's world?
Love for hate, joy for sorrow.
Art lets the truth unfurl.

It was never my dream to be
A New World Order slave.
This is no longer the land of the free,
But it's still the home of the brave.

To be a 21st century freedom fighter
Was never a goal of mine.
But I'll forever cast my lot with those
Who cross the propriety line.

Will we ever come together
As one complete humanity
To live as one, to live our lives
As they were intended to be?

The truth will out all the lies
That we've all been told.
Occupy your heart, let freedom ring.
Live strong, live free, live bold.