Wishful Thinking
If we could take all those young men
who use so-o-o much negative energy
to do so many hurtful things
and flip the switch
this nation would be awesome!
Thieves would make the best security.
Con men would make excellent salesmen.
Liars would be
running the government!
(Oops! Did I just say that?)
Drug dealers would be businessmen.
Gang members would be our police
and there would be less warring.
Homeless people would negotiate
real estate deals that would boggle the mind.
And
those who simply know how
to duck, dodge, slip and slide,
would catch every crook because they’d think just like them!
But
there are no switches to flip,
no dials to turn, and no buttons to push,
to make those who waste their talents
and do damage to themselves and others
change.
There is only hope and prayer
because
prayer changes people,
and people make changes.
Wish we’d change the way we pray.
This nation would be awesome!
–RuNett Nia Ebo ©1994
RuNett Nia Ebo, ‘Poet of Purpose’ has been writing poetry for more than six decades and has been published in various publications including Chicken Soup for the African American Soul and Kwee Magazine. She is also the creator of the blog Keeping It Real. RuNett is a contributing editor with The Philadelphia Obituary Project where she writes features about Philadelphia homicide victims, so that its readers can get to know the victims, and understand the tragedy of gun violence.
