THE YEAR 2000

first published in "Outstanding Poets of 1994" (National Library of Poetry, Maryland, 1994)

After the year two thousand, I will be still alive,
And  so  will  other  animals  and  worms.
There  still  will  be  vegetables  and  germs,
And mundane  life as  ever, rain  or shine.

Not the earth to stop revolving will tend,
Neither the seas to dry, nor the air to condense;
Each day will be a new one, not the last hence;
And the world – humanity – will face no end.

Wars will continue to erupt here and there
As an ordeal to test Man’s thirst for Peace.
Poverty, ignorance, and diseases will not cease
For egoism, greed, and cruelty will not care.

But, anywhere on the globe, in any event,
There always will be conscience, common sense.
The elites still will vow the innocent’s defense,
For people to be safe, prosperous, and content.

We still will have much more progress to make
And many more stars to explore and win.
To prepare for the twenty-first century to begin,
We need self-reliance striving for our own sake.

                      THANH-THANH