Intergenerational Poem: Where I Come From

— presented to the Voice of Witness group, March 2022 in response to:

Where do you come and what is your identity?

From dust to dust

Filled with spirit briefly

Dying from the moment of birth

Living with cancer

Multiple myeloma

Treatable but not curable

Progression-free at the moment

Cancer-drug side-effects troublesome

Prognosis uncertain

Death knocks at my door

As it knocks at your door

Nevertheless

I live as fully as possible

As long as possible

A human being

Nothing more

Nothing less

Trying to make the most of my time

Trying to reverse humanity’s downward spiral

Trying to spread commitment to compassion and justice

Planting seeds for a global moral humanity movement

Cultivating a world that serves humanity, the environment, and life itself

Trying to be a better human being

Trying to avoid demonizing others

Trying to be a more effective activist

Trying to learn, learn, learn

Taking care of myself so I can better serve others

Loving the universe

Communing with Mother Nature

Enjoying life

Promoting Truth, Justice, and Beauty

Three sides of the same coin

Looking for more soul mates on the same path

Soul mates who don’t

Always

Ask, What’s in it for me?

Soul mates who realize they’re not the point

Humanity is the point

Life is the point

Looking for soul mates who protect life

Protect the planet

Relieve suffering

Eliminate the causes of preventable suffering

Soul mates who

Identify as a member of the human race

Looking for more soul mates who do the right thing

Organize, educate, agitate

Push, push, push

Take chances

Nurture peace

Holistic democracy

Human rights

Civil rights

Economic rights

Labor rights

Voting rights

Environmental sustainability

Democratic equality

Compassion and justice

Everyone’s infinite value

Demand Washington respect the will of the people

And establish economic security and justice for all

Looking for soul mates who are true to themselves

True to their higher angels

Soul mates who

Live the way they want everyone to live

And recognize others will do the same

Soul mates who are humble

Make judgments without being judgmental

Refrain from assuming moral superiority

Soul mates who neither dominate nor submit

Who know how to be a partner

Co-equal

With mutual respect

Soul mates who listen as much as they talk

Soul mates on the same path

Who seek the Beloved Community

Help each other unlearn divisive social conditioning

Internalized oppression

That undermines unity

Soul mates who are simply a human being

Enspirited flesh

Enfleshed spirit

Seeking, seeking

Always seeking

As death knocks at the door

Whether or not

You know it

--Wade Lee Hudson

Wade Lee HudsonComment