IF I WOULD BE HAPPY

If I would be happy, the world would know only peace
And children, every one, would be born into love and stay there
Hunger would never refer to starvation from lack of food;
there would be more than enough for all, and all would share
The thirst for knowledge would dwell in every soul;
a quest for a meaningful existence would be a given
However, religion would be recognized as a failed experiment;
one that had started out with good intentions, repeatedly
but had gone seriously awry, in almost every single example
resulting in war and acrimony, pitting god against god
If I would be happy, living a questioning, tolerant life
where everyone respected everyone else, would be presumed
While debate and intellectual foment would be encouraged
the true meaning of democracy would be observed
People would also be responsible stewards of the earth
realizing naturally and unselfishly that they are needed
If I would be happy, life wouldn’t be perfect but
it wouldn’t be quite so fraught with tension, worry,
hate and death - it might sound boring
If I would be happy, but I’d still like to give it a shot.

S.E.Ingraham