No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed
by Richie Havens

Step out in the night
When you get lonely.
Listen for the sounds
City ears don't hear.
I know your cross is getting
Heavier with every step,
But I know a man
Who's walked miles for you.

Stop! Stay the way you are,
Take a look at yourself,
Take a good look at yourself.
Can't turn to Mama
'Cause she'd only tell ya she
told ya so --
That some of us are still learnin'
That the real trick to life
we all know.

Light flashed today
At the dawnin',
Daytime, Nighttime
We still don't see.
Why must we wait
Until mornin'
To wake up and be
Wake up and be.

Now you and I both know
There's no such thing as up and down,
And even when your problems
Got you goin' around and round
Gotta talk like a man to Papa
'Cause he don't understand
that other stuff.
Since we're part of the cross
he's been carryin' --
I think our end has been draggin'
Long enough.


All right, all right,
All right, all right, all right,
Pick it up, pick it up,
Pick it up, pick it up!

Transcribed from an article on Richie Haven's poetry by rsk@ecn.purdue.e