Maya Angelo-
Take Time Out
When you see them
on a freeway hitching rides
wearing beads
withpacks at their sides
you ought to ask
What's all the
warring and the jarring
and the
killing and
the thrilling
all about.
Take time out.
When you see him
with a band around his head
and an army surplus bunk
that makes his bed. You'd
better ask What's
all the
beating and
the cheating and
the bleeding and
the needing
all about.
Take time out.
When you see her walking
barefoot in the rain
ANd you know she's trippin,
on a one-way train
you need to ask
what's all the
lying and the
dying and
the running and
the gunning
all about.
Take time out.
Use a minute
feel some sorrow
for the folks
who think tomorrow
is a place that they
can call up
on the phone.
Take a month
and show some kindness
for the folks
who thought blindness
was an illness that
affected the eyes alone.