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.

• Read it as a poem.
• Read it as a rhyme.
• Read it as a song in 2/4 time.
• Read it through until the end.
• It’s just my way
• To try and explain
• What’s going on with me again.

How much do you love me?

• I’m not asking for the depth of the ocean,
• Nor the breadth of the sky.
• Nor the height of the mountaintop that towers so high.
• Just…

How much do you love me?

• I live in fear from day to day
• Of hearing you say, “Three!”
• One word to send me far away
• When you’ve lost your love for me.

• I break a glass.
• I burn a meal.
• I have no class
• But my tears are real.

How much do you love me?

• Do you love me enough to push me through places where I fear to go?
• Do you love me enough to pull me through places where I balk and slow?
• Do you love me enough to keep me at your side through thick and thin?
• It’s the bottom of the ninth.
• The bat is shaking in my hand.
• Do you love me enough to keep me, although I may strike out again?

• If the answer is yes
• I must confess
• As to how much I love you.
• And hope you can see within my heart
• That my words are true.

How much do you love me?

• I know I may have forfeited
• The chance to share your name.
• I know I may never be
• More than a sub in your game.

• Still I love you enough to stay with you, wherever you take the team.
• I love you enough to stay at your side until the end of the dream.
• I love you enough to live with the fear of hearing the dreaded word three.
• I love you enough to stay at your side, wherever your side might be.

How much do you love me?

• The answer becomes non-essential.
• There’s really no need to know.
• For I will love you as long as I stay
• With a love that will stay, if ever I go.
• But still it would be so nice to know…

How much do you love me?