If day's had been much brighter

and the west wind far less biting,

with paths sufficiently straighter

and avoiding fruitless fighting.

 

If clearer thoughts pervaded

with our goals so set in stone,

if the tyrants and dictators

would just leave us all alone.

 

If the drugs that you are feeding us,

weren’t always quite so strong,

and the roads you’re always building

didn’t have to be so long.

 

If plans and all the plotting

were for good instead of bad

and the faces that we see

were not so worried or so sad.

 

If all the wealth and power

was purged from those on high,

or the promises they made

were all for real and not just lies.

 

If people walked down busy streets

with heads held high and proud,

for torment and oppression

were no longer quite so loud. 

 

If mankind could live in peace;

health and welfare for all,

fragile elders were helped back up,

not derided if they fall.

 

If discipline, love and respect

were restored within the masses

and society made more equal

with no need to split the classes.

 

If once again, deep despair

was a thing of days long past

and the family was the beating heart

that above all else, would last.

 

If you could only tell me we're free at last;

that the voice of reason heard,

that we had our own identities

and were no longer just part of the herd.

...

We live our lives on ifs and buts

and fear the days to come,

we judge our futures by the past

instead of moving on.

 

If only we could just let it all go;

just live our lives so free,                    

leave behind all the fear and hate

and then look ahead to see...

 

...a brighter world of joy and hope

would soon be bursting free,

with love and light abounding

that’s for one and all to see.

 

Clear blue skies and a warming sun,

filling hearts with desire,

a peaceful world of will and wonder

would be rising from the fires.

 

*

Written by Darren Scanlon, 10th February 2014.

revised 14th August 2015.

© 2015 Darren Scanlon. All rights reserved.