Mr. Cooke, Is A Change Still Gonna Come?

Send sailors to explore a distant lands
astronauts up to constellations unknown
nautical probes to ocean dead zones
biologists to jungles overgrown
crafty artisans of rhetoric to government
number crunchers to wall street
dashing actors to the plush theaters
musicologist to provide a beat
anatomy lovers to explore the human body
prime human specimens to sports
mystery solvers to police precincts
constitutional theorist to explain torts

But please don't send the peacemakers
not even an inch out of the hemisphere
before we find a way to coexist
let them stay right here

We need them to bring together those
who believe another view of god is wrong
to show that there are connections
between the disadvantaged and the strong

To push past the ethnic tensions
that a majority wants to pretend are gone
yet evident in prison sentencing
private facilities will hold them long

To point out even the noblest war
has lowered morality with and without the state
with weapons more deadly and robotic
dialog, hope it's not to late

And to say that maybe there is something more
then a stockpile of guns because you fear the man
tragedy when reaching unintended targets
how many more children dead can we really stand?

So exponentially pad the portfolio
figure out ways to avoid tax bills
but leave us some of the peacemakers
trying to solve those deep seated ills