I
I belong in a community—I want
to communicate with stories & songs
and food—let there be food, bitter and festive,
to identify with people who love books, ask
questions, debate answers—year after year
to keep questioning with blood on our lintel,
to speak of plagues & blessings, to learn
with humble confidence that comes of faith
& good deeds. I respect quiet strength,
patient optimism—I connect with those
who live integrity, weep dignity
in the foul face of troubles, who pass
memories forward—homeland & language,
names in sacred ceremony, care diligently
for the young and the frail. I want to live
promises larger than myself—open doors
to ancient footprints and enduring presence
affirmative as manna in wilderness.
II
I am one human being, an individual
distinct even within my own tribe,
where customs & faces are more common,
but do not define any of us entirely. Outside
in the world, I and you will be labeled
as if a commodity to be boxed—named
and numbered regardless of our true value,
as excuse to exclude, accuse, or worse. No,
I am not a number, prisoner to any poll,
restricted by dogma, geography or skin color.
I am an animal, male of class Mammalia,
living organism—a trillion cells of instinct
& witness. The more I learn, I learn how much
more to know. I am consumer and creator,
son and father, native-born and immigrant,
social and solitary—I am no one else.
I am free to wonder, to pursue dreams,
to face what I fear, to be who I am.
