My Plate

I push my plate away heave a sigh say that was great Ask you if you'd like to go out and sit on the deck We sip our drinks and watch the summer sun set through the trees And marvel that life can be so good Suddenly my thoughts stray to the tragedy that fills the world The killing everywhere that seems to have no reason or rhyme Parents struggling to find their kids enough to eat Just because of the accident of their birth Between tar paper shacks and the opulence of wealth Between disease with no cure and good health I find I find myself I push my plate away wait to catch your eye and grin The table's filled with many guests we like and some we don't The music playing is sensual and primitive As hazy goofiness envelopes us all I know somewhere there are bad folks hatching evil plots I think back on some that found their way right to our door I speculate a force for good Helps everyone who wants to be less trapped and more free Between the myths and dreams that serve as my guide And this ordinary world I ride I dance I dance inside I push my plate away a hermit in a crowded world Once upon I gave my all to make contact with kindred souls That youth crazed search went bust with one exception I here note Without whom I can't imagine my fate My past is haunted by the mocking ghosts of shame and pride My faith rejects the world's indifference is justified The one I wronged the most has been the one most seen my good A shining example to forgive is divine Between the secret list of my many sins And times I rose to life's occasions I still I still begin