A Gold Rush of Great Poetry, Part Deux

Quick to judge Quick to anger Slow to understand Ignorance and prejudice And fear walk hand in hand... ______ To you, is it movement or is it action? Is it contact or just reaction? And you...revolution or just resistance? Is it living, or just existence? Yeah, you! It takes a little more persistence To get up and go the distance...I'm not giving in to security under pressure I'm not missing out on the promise of adventure I'm not giving up on implausible dreams Experience to extremes Experience to extremes... ______ It slips between your hands like water This living in real time A dizzying lifetime Reeling by on celluloid Struck between the eyes By the big-time world Walking uneasy streets Hiding beneath the sheets Got to try and fill the void...You know how that rabbit feels Going under your speeding wheels Bright images flashing by Like windshields towards a fly Frozen in the fatal climb But the wheels of time Just pass you by Wheels can take you around Wheels can cut you down We can go from boom to bust From dreams to a bowl of dust We can fall from rockets' red glare Down to "Brother can you spare..." Another war Another wasteland And another lost generation ______ It's not how fast you can go The force goes into the flow If you pick up the beat You can forget about the heat More than just survival More than just a flash More than just a dotted line More than just a dash It's a test of ultimate will The heartbreak climb uphill Got to pick up the pace If you want to stay in the race More than just blind ambition More than just simple greed More than just a finish line Must feed this burning need In the long run... From first to last The peak is never passed Something always fires the light that gets in your eyes One moment's high, and glory rolls on by Like a streak of lightning That flashes and fades in the summer sky... Your meters may overload You can rest at the side of the road You can miss a stride But nobody gets a free ride More than high performance More than just a spark More than just the bottom line Or a lucky shot in the dark In the long run... You can do a lot in a lifetime If you don't burn out too fast You can make the most of the distance First you need endurance First you've got to last... ______ The office door closed early The hidden bottle came out The salesman turned to close the blinds A little slow now, a little stout But he's still heading down those tracks Any day now for sure Another day as drab as today Is more than a man can endure...Dreams flow across the heartland Feeding on the fires Dreams transport desires Drive you when you're down Dreams transport the ones who need to get out of town... The boy walks with his best friend Through the fields of early May They walk awhile in silence One close, one far away But he'd be climbing on that bus Just him and his guitar To blaze across the heavens Like a brilliant shooting star The middle aged Madonna Calls her neighbor on the phone Day by day the seasons pass And leave her life alone But she'll go walking out that door On some bright afternoon To go and paint big cities From a lonely attic room It's understood By every single person Who'd be elsewhere if they could So far so good And life's not unpleasant In their little neighborhood ______ So many things I think about When I look far away Things I know, things I wonder Things I'd like to say The more we think we know about The greater the unknown We suspend our disbelief And we are not alone...Mystic rhythms Capture my thoughts Carry them away Mysteries of night escape the light of day Mystic rhythms Under northern lights Or the African sun Primitive things stir the hearts of everyone We sometimes catch a window A glimpse of what's beyond Was it just imagination Stringing us along? More things than are dreamed about Unseen and unexplained We suspend our disbelief And we are entertained Mystic rhythms Capture my thoughts Carry them away Nature seems to spin A supernatural way Mystic rhythms Under city lights Or a canopy of stars We feel the powers and wonder what they are ______ How many times do you hear it? It goes on all day long Everyone knows everything And no one's ever wrong Until later...Who can you believe? It's hard to play it safe But apart from a few good friends We don't take anything on faith Until later...Show me, don't tell me...You can twist perceptions Reality won't budge You can raise objections I will be the judge And the jury I'll give it due reflection Watching from the fence Give the jury direction Based on the evidence...Show, don't tell ______ If we burn our wings Flying too close to the sun If the moment of glory Is over before it's begun If the dream is won Though everything is lost We will pay the price But we will not count the cost When the dust has cleared And victory denied A summit too lofty River a little too wide If we keep our pride Though paradise is lost We will pay the price But we will not count the cost And if the music stops There's only the sound of the rain All the hope and glory All the sacrifice in vain, And if love remains Though everything is lost We will pay the price But we will not count the cost ______ I'm old enough not to care too much About what you think of me But I'm young enough to remember the future And the way things ought to be ______ In the house where nobody laughs And nobody sleeps In the house where love lies dying And the shadows creep A little girl hides shaking With her hands on her ears Pushing back the tears 'Til the pain disappears Mama says some ugly words Daddy pounds the wall They can fight about their little girl later Right now they don't care at all... No matter what they say... Everyday people Everyday shame Everyday promise shot down in flames Everyday sunrise Another everyday story Rise from the ashes and blaze In everyday glory... In the city where nobody smiles And nobody dreams In the city where desperation Drives the bored to extremes Just one spark of decency Against a starless night One glow of hope and dignity A child can follow the light... No matter what they say... If the future's looking dark We're the ones who have to shine If there's no one in control We're the ones who draw the line Though we live in trying times We're the ones who have to try Though we know that time has wings We're the ones who have to fly ______ A certain measure of innocence Willing to appear naive A certain degree of imagination A measure of make-believe A certain degree of surrender To the forces of light and heat A shot of satisfaction In a willingness to risk defeat Celebrate the moment As it turns into one more Another chance at victory Another chance to score The measure of the moment In a difference of degree Just one little victory A spirit breaking free One little victory The greatest act can be One little victory A certain measure of righteousness A certain amount of force A certain degree of determination Daring on a different course A certain amount of resistance To the forces of the light and love A certain measure of tolerance A willingness to rise above ______ Driving away to the east, and into the past History receeds in my rear-view mirror Carried away on a wave of music down a desert road Memory humming at the heart of a factory town... All my life I've been workin' them angels overtime Riding and driving and living So close to the edge Workin' them angels overtime... Riding through the Range of Light to the wounded city Filling my spirit with the wildest wish to fly Taking the high road to the wounded city Memory strumming at the heart of a moving picture... Driving down the razor's edge 'tween the past and the future Turn up the music and smile Get carried away on the songs and stories of vanished times ______ Like the solitary pine On a bare wind blasted shore We can only grow the way the wind blows ______ Exit stage left