If

If I am to be labeled

Label me a lover

Looking to discover

A world devoid of hate

If I am to be pris'ner

Let hope serve as my chains

When nothing else remains

Faith will mark my fate

If I must fit a mold

Let it be my own

Made for me alone

Shaped by hands of love

If I have to choose a side

Place me with the poor

Who long for something more

Than this life that we're part of

If I must work for meaning

Let me work for truth

For the wonder of our youth

To infuse our hearts once more

If I must stand for something

I will stand for peace

For violent act to cease

For end to lasting war

If I am to be moving

Inspire me to dance

To fall to beauty's trance

To bend but never break

And if I am to be marked

Mark me as a mys'try

Part of human hist'try

Of love's eternal ache

-C. O'Connell-