How much work is required
Of a human?
"Sometimes I try too fucking hard."
How sensitive must I be
To take the most efficient path?
If I am patient my route will be revealed
Just before I take a step
Or after
In any case my doubt
Just casts the question to the universe
It echoes off the farthest star
And I step where I hear no sound.

The sooner you realize
We’re just like the ants
The better you’ll feel about
Your life’s contribution

Each ant does a job
And no one’s the boss
They don’t worry, just work
And it all gets done

Each one to his talent
One note in a song
At the end a perfect village
A home for them all

What makes you think you’re so different?
We’re on the same Earth!
Take a lesson in success
From the modest workers

I think the problem with our present attempt at health reform is that Obama is trying to pass a bill quickly without "changing the way Washington works," as he promised to do in his campaign. Health care can not be considered independently of lobbying reform, campaign finance reform, lawsuit reform, or immigration reform. Six months was far too ambitious considering the steps that are needed to restore trust and fairness in and among our legislators. Congress still has too many strings attached to competing interests. It is also not helpful that the debate rides on the tail of government bailouts of industry. Whether or not a public "option" is considered, haste will make waste unless we give fair time to all the interrelated issues that challenge the country’s progress. I applaud the President’s demand for action, but he must take the proper steps to really change how Washington works in order to avoid a stalemate. It seems the only items that move quickly anymore are one-man czar-type decisions, such as the bank bailout, the Iraq invasion, etc., which have not yet proven to be cost-effective nor wise. Our credit rating in the world rose short-term, but is falling long-term. I hope there exists a congressional steering committee which is responsible for shaping the intentions of legislation and is looking at priorities in the context of interdependencies.

I don’t know what he sees in me
But I am so pleased that he sees it
I don’t know what creation sees in us
But I know I should be glad

What is our potential,
When we are in the world, not of it?
Can we be joyful always
Even in death, loss, sadness?

When we know how to stay alive
Educated enough to thrive
We control our evolution
Change your environment; change your line

The food you eat, the sounds you make
The amount of exposure to man’s folly
The world was spinning when you dropped in
All you control is you

What men have learned over the years
Is the Divine won’t let you down
Where men will fail and lose your trust
The higher powers still shine on

And though you play at human games
Designed for win and loss
Remember always how far you’ve come
From darkness, void, ashes and dust

I don’t want to be an anal, striving yuppie
Living high above my means
My means are immense
But it makes no sense
Chasing comfort at the cost of living free

You should study something smart, they said
Be a doctor, engineer, use your head
You’d be a fool
To teach at school
Use your brains and make the green instead

The world is full of bad advice
Dick and Jane will speak their minds
So do what feels right
And don’t lose sight
Of the things you want most from this life

From where I’ve stood
It’s one in ten thousand
Who embraces the world
With arms wide open

It takes one to know one
Trust inspires
Let the music move you
Sing pretty thing

Letting that which does not matter
Truly slide, truly fade
You’re never more beautiful
Than today.

I don’t want to write a love song
Or a hate song
Or a song about anything we did last week
I want to write a thunderstorm
And a steady downpour
A lightning strike
And a flooded mainstreet
I want to find myself in a stranger
Then curl up in your arms
And beat my heart against your steel
Studded chest
I want to find a place to rest
From the forces that push me
Past the faces I’ll never know.

Time to get inspired
Time to print the map
Time to make mistakes
Time to bounce right back
Time to keep your cool
Time to try again
Time to utterly fail
Time to meet the future

Life is interesting
Sometimes the drama isn’t even ours
Yet we bounce in its ripple
Sometimes playfully
Sometimes with fear of being tipped over
In our little canoes
We all need stabilizers on our craft

When everything affects everything
Of course your childhood matters
The wrongs you were dealt
Were not your fault
But the result of the wrongs of forefathers

As we grow older and shed our dead skin
We should purge the wrongs that have plauged us
Forgiveness is leaving
The past in the past
And instead claim the future as yours

Then you hold the dreams of the human race
Your lips and your feet can be golden
Let each step you make
Blaze a trail to the truth
And carry the world on your shoulders