Raise My Hand

A tribute to Kurt Vonnegut (November 11, 1922 - April 12, 2007)

"Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand."

If I could have but a moment
of time to sit and comprehend
blue-skinned sirens on a chilly
moon and why God doesn't care;

I'd spend it with you and play
Heller's Catch 22. We must
be crazy to want to fly
and of course, we're normal
to want to finish the job
and just go home.

Billy Pilgrim did - to my delight
and satisfied his hunger
with a box of Wheaties,
and sex. Don't forget the sex,
even the celibate think on it.

All those memories of a moment
when your captors held you up
as a human shield and you lived
on, despite the efforts
of a stranger wanting to kill you.

Damn him, God wins and you -
wise and irreverent you -
depart and leave us the thought -
"We could have saved the Earth
but we were too damned cheap."