Some of us do not care
For a diamond or shiny pearl.
No one stone could be so rare
As gazing upon this world.

What role were you cast to play
Upon this stage called earth?
Exactly how much would you say
The part you play is worth?

Can you play the businessman,
Acting in scenes of war?
Can you play the fisherman,
Selling his fresh albacore?

Can you play the workingman,
Bowing as royalty passes,
Or play the parasite ruling man,
Thriving on workers’ taxes?

Can you play a rich man in jail,
Buying his freedom with gold,
Or play the judge who sets the bail,
As though life can be sold?

Can you play the owner of land,
Who sells lots by the shore?
Can you make cement from sand,
To build the jewelry store?

Can you wear a military coat,
Or wear hats and jewelry?
Can you stand in line to vote,
Then wait for the decree?

Are you nicely uniformed,
In costume for your role?
Do you still feel so adorned,
Backstage inside your soul?

Can your lines be memorized,
To make your performance good?
Can real tears fall from your eyes,
If following the script, they would?

Part of the play is a comedy,
With laughter in the wings.
The rest is all a tragedy,
With chains and pains and kings.

Schools all teach the history
Of what mankind has done,
Passing the bloody legacy,
Each father to his son.

Lessons are learned quite well,
To teach men how to compete;
Claiming things to buy and sell,
To work and to lay concrete.

See the lawyer and the clerk,
The potter and the priest,
Placing all value in their work,
They soon will be deceased.

Governments and kings all say,
Their laws are in the right.
Soon the earth will fade away,
Its laws removed from sight.

The curtain finally will fall,
When the play does end.
Soon after the curtain call,
The play will begin again.

Shakespeare said the world’s a stage,
And we are all just players,
But some of us don’t like the wage,
And so are just spectators.