When

When?

     “you say I am strong

      When I think I am weak…”

• “You Say” by Laura Dangle

Some days,

you wake up wondering,

who am I;

where did I come from,

larger than simply

mom and dad.

While this may seem

a personal,

individual quest,

it is really very superficial

and self-centered.

Isn’t more the quest,

what needs to be done

and what can I do?

Especially in a world

filled with misery and pain.

If this is true,

and I believe it is,

then we are social creatures,

part of a world community of beings

evolving on a small orb,

circling a minor star

in one corner of an unknown,

but knowable vast

and endless cosmos,

then what we do

defines who we are.

Why then, is it we are taught

to look inward,

to self,

when what is urgently needed

is to look outward,

to our diversity

and continuity,

then act against the horrors

we see before us.

Why is it that

our community

is defined narrowly,

by borders, walls,

and countries,

rather than humanity

as a whole?

I have written this poem many times,

pointing to our lowered sights,

to those American illusions,

self-delusion of seeing help

as looking at our feet,

taking a few steps

and thinking we have done something noble

and can now sleep good at night.

Barbara Kingsolver wrote once,

“some of us know where the wealth comes from,

some of us don’t,

but we wear it all the same.” *

There is a morality here,

a morality based on ages old traditions,

and fantasies of ‘comfort zones’.

To be blunt,

it is cowardice and inhuman

to simply be guided by what

“keeps us safe”, “comfortable”

or what is commonly known.

Here is something Bob Avakian has said,

“the whole point of principle is that

you have to fight for it when

it is not easy to do.

There is no need for principle

if the only time it is applied

is when it doesn’t matter” **

I started this poem

listening to Lauren Dangle’s song,

‘You Say’,

thinking how so many of us feel

damaged, weak

and alone.

But as the song progressed,

I though,

there is a way out of this;

how we are confined

in many different ways,

but all of us are capable of

breaking out

and together,

build a better world.

And in doing so,

“free the spirit

from the cell”. ***

Aztec Warrior/redzone 10.23.19

*this quote is from Barbara Kingsolver’s book The Poisonwood Bible.

**this quote from Bob Avakian can be found in his book, “Basics -from the talks and writings of Bob Avakian”; it can be found on page 154.

***this quote is one of the lines in the song, “The Internationale”