what I want to know

what I want to know
what I’d really like to know
before I drop down dead
or crawl into amnesia or alzheimer’s
or whatever;
what I really want to know
(if I can remember it;
let me see if I can recall it,
refresh please….
try and retrieve it from the backwaters of my mind)
yes, what I really want to know
about all this talk about
bad people and all the bad things all the bad guys do
and all this talk about all these selfishness and greed
and all these Look at them! Look at these!
And all this: I don’t know what the world’s coming to!
and all this talk about the vices and bad habits
all the bad things other people do;
what I really want to know is
if everybody’s so good
(O you angels on earth;
O you goody-good brothers and sisters)
pointing to everyone else –
hey, you earthlings,
if everyone of you is so good
as you all appear in each conversation and post –
where are the evil guys
and all the bad guys
and all the bad things you point out,
where are they all coming from
if each one of you is so good?
that’s what I want to know
before I kick the bucket
that is
if I can remember or hear
what I’d wanted to know when the answer comes