In Lieu of Love

In lieu of love give me hate, In lieu of age give me an imagination, even if it is too late. In lieu of sex give me chocolate, In lieu of a grave give me a ride to Mars on a rocket. In lieu of sadness give me happiness and glee, In lieu of pride give me humbleness, please hear my plea. In lieu of beauty give me a heart of gold, In lieu of fear give me courage allowing me to be bold. In lieu of desperation give me hope, In lieu of weakness give me strength to climb the mountainous slope. In lieu of cowardice give the power to fight, In lieu of darkness give me a soul that lights the night. In lieu of inferiority give me a ladder to climb, In lieu of confusion give me reason to my rhyme. In lieu of death give me time, In lieu of purgatory give me the sublime. In lieu of a man's priorities give me motherhood, In lieu of the big city give me the backwoods. In lieu of captivity give me wide open spaces, In lieu of sadness give me happy faces. In lieu of music give me the laughter of my daughter and son, In lieu of sarcasm give me a good pun. In lieu of the cold give me warmth, In lieu of stepping back let me race forth. In lieu of ignorance give me an amazing brain, In lieu of hunger give me grain. In lieu of pain give me pleasure, In lieu of squalor give me treasure. In lieu of lying give me a tongue that speaks true, In lieu of loneliness give me you!