Merci, Johnny O! Poem by Dennisa Davidson

Hey Johnny O,
With your true Little Mercy
Set our student hearts dreaming
Of living in and serving
Dusty old villages
Not worthy of mention in the papers
With parched land or pretty green.

But then, Johnny O
Little did you and Mercy know
One day such damning blood will flow
When you are living in and serving
In your little village
Not knowing if the hospital jeep can go
To see your patients, who are waiting.

You know Johnny O
We almost followed your mercy tracks
But just in time did step back
From dusty old villages
For I can't quite guess from these papers
What I'd have done, with all that's happening.

I might have ended up
Like you and Mercy in a village scene
Not knowing if today or tomorrow the mob will come visiting
Or perhaps like your friend Binayak
In a stone cold cell, alone be sleeping.
Just in time, I stepped back
Just in time, to be safe and secure
Just in time, so my kids can go to a good school
Just in time, to take in a movie or two
Just in time, to relish rava-dosai, pop some corn,
These to you just don't belong
Just in time, saved my skin
But Merci, Johnny O
For taking my place there...