The Great Men

Are we too far gone from the mother land,

Our mother's milk?

If we reached out could we still feel the guiding hand

Of the great men?

And these men of God

And these men of truth

Have the words that they've written

Been forgotten and abused?

Was it first grade that we sat in class

Like a box of varied chocolates?

Was it first grade that we first heard of the great men?

We pledged our allegiance to the flag

At the start of every day

And we wondered when we grew up

Could we be a great man

Pushing like a junkie or a barker at a fair

Using sugar coated rhetoric, you're so damn debonair

You're a sweet talking smiler, a bonafide beguiler

A player with a strategy, a mover of the mind

You're the connoisseur of conversation

A soapbox serpent speaking with a forked tongue

It was June of '84 when the storm came rolling through

It took our hats and most of what we learned

But I held on fast to all my goals

So the wind wouldn't blow them away

And I wished to be something more...on Graduation Day

With your mannequin smile on fire

Its charm looting pockets for hard earned cash

And you deal out your double standards

To reel in all those pats on the back that you've lived for,

Connived for, hurt for,

And cheated with a stone heart

You're a beggar with a bleeding heart

A bleeding heart, so cold so cold

What makes a man ignore

The causes to his effects

To damn his very soul to get ahead?

It's greed that waves the carrot

That leads to false security

Is our want much greater than our need to give?

To be strong you must first have strength within your heart

To have faith is a thing that can't be bought

To be great is to first serve the one who's served us all

It's much harder to stand than it is to fall

To be a great man