The lottery

When I win the lottery
It’ll be a big one,
300 million or more.
I’m going to start three organizations.
The Gronlund Trust,
The Brooks Wellman Foundation,
And the Dan Guarda Fund.
The Gronlund Trust
Will be the biggest
And it will help artists
Pay their bills,
Launch their studios,
And create their art.
It will help community colleges
Set up art programs
And hire the best instructors
From around the world.
It’s named after my grandfather
And every work of art
It sponsors
Will remind me of him.
He created a community college
Out of nothing
In his small town
In Illinois.
The Brooks Wellman Foundation
Will help those with AIDS
And their families.
It is named after
Michael Brooks
And Jeff Wellman,
Two men I only truly appreciated
Once they were gone.
The Dan Guarda Fund
Will help anyone with a mental illness.
Help them afford a place to live,
Help them afford their meds,
Help them afford a doctor.
Dan and I had the same illness.
I’ve lived with it for 20 years.
Dan lived with it for one.
And then he killed himself.
We will save hundreds
Right here in Houston
In his name.
When I win the lottery
It’ll be a big one,
300 million or more.
And after I start these three organizations
I don’t care if there’s even a penny
Left for me.