We meet at the base
in the wretchedness of our humanity
in the culpability of all that word entails
for good and for evil
Before we are anything
man, woman, gay, straight
black, white, beige, or yellow
Jew, Muslim, Christian, or Atheist
we are human – born naked and gasping for breath
It’s in the denial of humanity
the exorcism of this truth from their mind
that has brought the assailant his right to murder
different
it’s in the denial of humanity
the exorcism of this truth from their mind
that allows us to sneer at the stink and unwashed homeless
and say, “Get a job.”
It’s in the denial of humanity
that allows some fool to to arrogantly posture
and list names of great men and women who’ve come before
as proof as to why you should be allowed in
The greatest of us were no less human
no less prone to fits of laughter or rage or fear
but their circumstances thrust upon them an opportunity
to ride the potential of their lot into the gates of heaven
while their names remained burned into our memory
We are human beings, before we are anything
the denial of which is strangling our world
in the wretchedness of our ephemeral bodies
we have been made blind to our ethereal souls
clothed in our own short sightedness we leave our society gasping for breath.