In honor of the day:

Mankind: such a beautiful word!
Reverse the syllables.
The meaning is clear.
If every man was a kind man
Unlimited change would appear.

Yet inflamed by fear,
Ashamed we hide.
We dwell on difference in color and creed.
We build walls without doors,
Make rules we can’t bend,
Draw lines we can’t cross
When if we would blend
We’d find the companionship each of us needs.

Alone we hide behind our walls,
Reside within our boundary lines.
Until our make-shift rules collapse
We remain only man
Instead of mankind.

Kickapoo Creek is bare as bone.
Its bed has cracked.
Its springs have sprung.
Along the paths of Kickapoo Creek,
We walked when we were young.

Our hearts were filled with passion.
As along its banks we strolled.
Our words of love gushed forth enough
To last ‘til we grew old.

But now my bed is empty,
My bones too stiff and sore,
And I am far too weary,
To walk the paths of Kicakpoo Creek
That I walked once before.

Take me on a Sunday trip.
I don’t care – anywhere you want to go.
Some place where the air is clean,
Where we can smell the flowers.
If within the hour it starts to rain
We’ll pretend
It’s still a sunny day.

Let’s get on a bus.
There’s a stop—a forest just a mile away.
We’ll find a tree to lie beneath,
A mighty oak to hide us.
If the clouds blow in again,
We’ll pretend
It’s still a sunny day.