What do you know now - what did you learn this year - 
Between the good life and survival - between fire and fear?
Did you find a different way to see - to be?
Did you find a numinosity?
Do you think you'll come into your own this year?

Bending the bars of your cage takes a lot of strength, my friend -
You have to hold some heat on reserve, to build the fires within.

Counting the seasons - counting the years gone by,
We all stand to reason that it's better to live than die.
But still we die our deaths every day -
We die our small deaths in our small ways,
Even as we cling onto our lives... My, oh my.

To beat back the endless night, you have to shine brightly from within.
You have to be continuously building the fires within.

I will keep in mind that most Louisianans think this petition thing is just plain silly: 
www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/11/louisiana_other_states_petitio.html

Here is the first sentence of the article:

Residents in at least 19 states, including Louisiana, have filed petitions on the White House website seeking approval for their states to "peacefully ... withdraw from the United States of America and create its own NEW government."

These are the worst sore losers in the whole nation. Rather than be proud Americans, these people, most of whom I'm sure know the famous Lee Greenwood song, would rather secede from the country and take us along on their pity party. Well, while I may disapprove sometimes of what our government does and and absolutely deplore sometimes what our citizens do and how they behave, I am still proud to be an American because I live in a country where I can follow my own dream and have my own voice, and I was proud to be American when Bush was in office and I am even prouder now that we have a POTUS who stands for equality and I will be doubly proud once we've shown the so-called Tea Party, that virus that tried to hijack half our political system, the door (Yes, I believe the Tea Party is the main source of this clusterfuggery), because that will show that our country can survive and thrive and be here for more than just its own sake. If these people don't want to be Americans any more, then they can very well not be Americans somewhere else, like Brazil, for all I care. I have no use for their attitude at all. So yes, they MAY leave the country, if they so choose, but they MAY NOT take my home with them. I will be a part of what prevents it from happening. And I sincerely hope they come to their senses before they create real trouble.