Lines

A power line to convey a certain brilliance
A telephone line to carry a voice
A metro line to bring us all downtown

Lines of connection, communication
Not the borders or boundaries
That slice and dice a nation

Divided by the chalk lines
Of disreputable history
Past failures all laid out
As we shrug with absent mystery

Those bodies left behind us
While we amble on ahead
Fearful of the wrong things
From newspapers unread

Before I tell you what to do
Or you try to tell me
Let's all see what's been done
And where we could have been

By knowing what's before us
The path might clear ahead
And focus on new obstacles
Uncharted by the dead

A power line from a gurgling turbine
A telephone line from a quiet room
A metro line from across the city
Maybe we'll all raise our glasses soon

They say across the fence line
The grass is always verdurous
But we're not corralling cattle
Fearing wranglers foul or murderous

When we look out past dividers
We're unsurprised to see
More folks erecting fences
Becoming detainees

Before I worry about you
Or you worry about me
Let's all dwell on ourselves
We're the private enemy

Becoming who we're meant to
Virtuous and creative
We won't dread the different
The strange or unrelated

A power line to convey a certain brilliance
A telephone line to carry a voice
A metro line to bring us all home
To bring us home