Do I have a cause?
Am I living the examined life?
Am I far ahead in the race to breathing space?
Can I pause?

It occurred to me that someone once observed
That hate is not the opposite of love
That indifference is
That people with intelligence
Are haunted by doubts
While those who've relinquished their claim
Could be the ones running the show

How true! How true indeed.
But isn't this exactly how we convince ourselves
That nothing can be done... and let apathy breed?

In some young mind sitting there on his chair,
Perhaps, soaking in these words
Isn't this the insidious cynic in a cloak of wisdom
Spewing baleful armchair philosophy,
Over cigarettes and cups of coffee?

So what am I doing about anything? You ask.
I'll tell you what I'm not doing instead.
I'm not buying the idea of long beards and enlightenment on a mountain top
When there's so much to do at every intersection in the city
I'm not the kind to turn away when the beggar approaches
And I'm no philanthropist and it's not out of pity
Somehow, I lose less and gain more when I let that coin drop.

I'm not buying into the next war and the world's restlessness
I'm not allowing the filth of it to ruin what I reap from the crop
And so many times it's all up against a brick wall
But it doesn't mean I give up.
It's only a comma, a little window... not really a full stop.

I've learned that the world never changes
For those who cannot really see
So I'm not fighting what I cannot change
I'm changing what I can everyday
Starting with me.