If I could get you to care enough
About these matters
Of world-class importance—

If I could get you to
Dream your own dreams about them,
Rather than merely to lean on mine—

If I could get you to long in your own heart
For solutions,
And to do some hypothesizizing
And some experimenting
And some searching
On your own time,
Rather than to be satisfied
With waiting to be told
By somebody else—

Then I think we could get somewhere
Like nobody’s business—
Even if it meant that we had to go
And light the same fire
In a dozen other hearts first—
Or a thousand, even.

But it seems like maybe
You’re waiting to see
The thousand first—
Just as they themselves
May be waiting
For that thousand first.

So please pardon me for now,
As I must either look for those
Who only need to see the one first,
Or give up altogether.