Messages Needed
by Michael Doyle

There is something unsaid gone unheeded
In all the messages truly needed
Messages to and from so many strangers
Who are embroiled in all their anger

What happened to peace, love, and understanding
I know I'm no longer hip, and not to be demanding
But I've seldom heard of things getting better
When two or more sides forget we're in this together

When we can say nothing or speak when we can
In the secret alphabet from the tongue of a shaman
There he was on center stage lost in being all the rage
Until he slipped into unconsciousness and turned the page

The summer of love passed us by in the heat of fire
As we got lost in the fight and forgot what inspired
Us to seek and work toward something more than vanity
Whatever happened to the quest for a new humanity?

In a world of the ugly, we could use more beauty
I am talking about you and me living out our duty
Casting aside the disillusions of this lost generation
And holding something better to the light of veneration

Tired of singing about love and peace and want to live it
A look in this mirror tells me then that I have to give it
It's time to cross my heart and start to truly live
Looking around at everything that the world can truly give

The thing about living in the past is it's loaded with the dead
I can't shake the memory of mistakes by living in my head
It just keeps me shuffling heels to the brokenness around
When what I need is to live with my feet flat on the ground

(c) April 20, 2024  Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved