it doesn't have to be this way

there is a holocaust going on all around us
but we are too wrapped up in conveniences
to care
or even be aware of it

how many animals are used as we please
to serve our whims and 'needs'
how many vehicles pumping poison into the air
and into our bodies

go to work and make money
spend it on luxuries
to make your neighbor envious
to make him covetous of what you've got
and what the others do not

we in the opulent west
accept fast food and car advertisements
as a natural way of life

it doesn't have to be this way
it is so because we've made it
we must stop the madness of property
the lunacy of profit
of ripping others off
capitalism is not fair exchange

there really is only one arrangement
for all people to live in harmony
with one another and the rest of the living world
giving
caring, sharing
believing the truth of concern
for all sentient beings
of existing while causing the least amount of harm

we are creatures capable of guilt
of reflecting upon our actions
perhaps the universe is moral
i don't know
but i know i am
and you are

stop justifying your cruelty
it need not be
that way
today or tomorrow
the dream is this
the larvae and the leopard
the disciple and the shepherd
shall exist together
not in conflict but in unity

it could be if we want it
if we all woke up and got it
it's all really very simple
and the solution is this

what do we need
we can do without this
we can live without that
if one being who is capable of suffering
is suffering
we must lavish attention
with real love and devotion

no one is an outsider
in a closed universe
no one need feel unloved
in a field of blue grama grass
underneath white puffy cumulus clouds
breathing in the unpolluted air

all observances are no longer observed
unquestioned traditions are wholly absurd
that one looks like australia
and that one looks like europe
the whole world is above us
no longer in fear
she is in love with us

it's a vision that could be
it's a way of life that should be
that would be
if we weren't so greedy

some folks live above us
and some of them live below
some people read the tao te ching
but others take longer to know

some people look for love
at the bottom of a bottle of gin
some people find their path
on the road that never lets 'em in

it doesn't have to be this way