Can You Tell Poem by Juan Olivarez

Can you tell a mocking bird to stop,
Singing from the very top,
Of the live oak in the back?
Can you make that old man move,
Just because he has no roof,
On that old delapidated shack?

Can you tell the sun to stay,
Below the horizon every day,
As the morning comes around?
Can you tell the stars on high,
Not to sparkle from the sky,
As we watch them from the ground?

Can you tell the wind that blows,
Not to whistle as it goes,
Around the wide world every day?
Or tell the ocean not to roar,
As the tide comes close to shore,
Come what come, or come what may.

Nothing you can say or do,
Can change these things oh it's so true,
And you would'nt if you could.
So be the one person today,
To give God his praise and pray,
For things you've never understood.

6/18/10 29 palms ca.