If Only...

— body language by Weddie Thiên  —

 

If only kind Socrates had set down that brew,
If only those senators had sheathed what they drew,
If only that Judas had not called Jesus’ name,
If only Pompeii had been spared from those flames,
If only those scrolls in Alexandria were saved,
If only great Rome had not withered and frayed,

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If only the Black Death had died on those seas,
If only that Joan of Arc had walked away free,
If only no ship ever hauled off a slave,
If only Salem had sent none to their graves,

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If only the guillotine had rusted in rain,
If only Napoleon had fled Moscow's plain,
If only the Cherokee had kept to their land,

If only potatoes had grown as was planned,

If only that Civil War had never been fought,

If only wise Lincoln had grown old as he ought,

If only Titanic had swung to the right,

If only the Archduke came home safe that night.,

If only Versailles had gone easy on debt,

If only the Hindenburg had landed, no threat,

If only Pearl Harbor had woken to peace,

If only the trains bound for Auschwitz had ceased,

If only the bomb had stayed locked in its shell,

If only Hiroshima had never known hell,

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If only that Dallas had let Kennedy be,

If only Memphis had let King wander free,

If only that Challenger climbed to the blue,

If only Chernobyl's reactor held true,

If only Rwandans had laid down their blades,

If only those hundred long days were unmade,

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If only those towers had still stood in the sky,

If only those bankers had not told us a lie,

If only that virus had never gotten out,

If only the world had been spared all that doubt,

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If only my father had swallowed his rage,
If only my mother had turned one more page,
If only that teacher had called on me twice,
If only that college had answered me nice,
If only I'd taken that job out of town,
If only my love hadn't turned me right down,
If only my boss had a smidgen of grace,
If only my friend had again shown their face,

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If only last night I had gone up to bed,
If only that drink had not gone to my head,
If only this morning the traffic had cleared,
If only I'd faced that one thing that I feared,

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If only, if only, it all had gone right,
The way that it should have, from morning to night,
If only each thing had turned out as it should,
Then I know that today, oh, today would feel good!