I have touched the hand of Satan; 
Felt the evil while I stood
So close that I could hear him while he seethed. 

I have climbed the stairs to Heaven
And lingered close to God;
So close that I could hear Him while he breathed. 

As a child on this small planet,
Watched a world go off to war;
Watched the cloud of Hiroshima block the sun. 

Watched the blood spill in Korea
Watched the rape of Viet Nam;
And wondered why some people thought they won. 

I saw freedom marchers beaten;
Saw the Kent State students fall;
Saw apartheid spread a cancer 'cross a land. 

Saw the brothers, John and Bobby,
And saw Martin Luther King 
Swept away like tiny, windblown grains of sand. 

Watched the homeless grow in numbers
Watched a nation turned to crime.
Watched disasters strike the planet every day. 

Watched a younger generation
Give their youthful dreams to drugs
While an older generation turned away. 

And in my daily living
Found that things were much the same.
The roads I walked were rained upon by tears. 

And, in my lack of knowledge,
Focused only on myself
And played it cool to cover up my fears. 

I turned my back on others
And catered to my wants
As I feasted on the pleasures of this earth. 

I developed tunnel vision
And lived only for today.
Not caring if my life had any worth. 

I hurt the ones that loved me
And they, in turn, hurt me
'Til I wondered of the purpose of this life: 

Was it meant to have some meaning?
Was it just a pointless game
With rules designed to mete out pain and strife? 

Then I stopped and looked around me;
Raised my head above the clouds;
Dropped the shroud that had me covered like a hood. 

And I saw that all the evil
Things that tainted up our lives
Were balanced by an equal share of good. 

I saw people helping people;
Felt the joy of joining in;
Felt the warmth of reaching out a helping hand. 

Saw the beauty of a sunrise
And a starlit autumn night;
Stood in awe while fields of wheat were being fanned 

By the winds of change within me
Which were altering my life
To point me down a road I'd never known. 

And walking down that highway
I began to understand
That Man is simply worthless when alone. 

And in that awesome journey
Which started at the point
Where I thought that all my bridges had been burned, 

I acquired a touch of wisdom
Somewhere along the way.
And on the trip, then, this is what I learned: 

That Life is for the learning;
That there's karma to be paid;
That Good and Bad are what it's all about. 

And you're going to get a dose of both
To test your growing soul
And, down the road, it somehow evens out. 

So touch the hand of Satan;
Feel the Evil as you stand
So close that you can hear him while he seethes. 

And climb the stairs to Heaven
And linger close to God...
So close that you can hear Him as he breathes. 

And don't worry if you stumble
Or discouraged if you fall
And don't dwell upon the pain of a mistake. 

Just do your best and know that,
As you travel down the road,
It's the trip that God intended you to take. 

Copyright 2001 - Phil Cerasoli