We have come because
the trees are in blossom
because the wind tugs at our sleeves
we come because the ocean has brought us here
many times
We have come because a man
once held a fresh page to the light
and declared tyranny dead
we have come because a woman
refused to keep to her place
We have come because the planet brought us
on its way around the sun
trees hold onto the sky and breathe the rooted earth
singing deep songs of oxygen
bees roam between flowers and the moon
weaving genetic strands in the ageless spiraling dance
restless elephants push against their diminishing range
tear through fences looking for food
never imagining fences.
We are people
and this is what we do
We have come to say
the planet will not be privatized
the holy ground will not be sanitized
people are not numbers to be erased
we are tired of insider deals cut in rooms
full of plush carpets and air conditioning
while families starve in the sweltering doorways
sick from the sludge of poorly digested dollars
oozing from the sewers and washing the shopping malls
in the stench
development loans that build dictators' palaces
and prison factories
while charging the people
for the chains that enslave them
and the bullets that kill them
plus interest
We have come because we have followed long trails of blood
to this place
and we are asking to see your hands
we have come because we looked in the mirror today
and we saw that you were us
and we are trying to change
we have come because we are here
because we have been taught to stand
because we were born
because an endless river brought us here
- Troy Skeels
[First posted 6 October 2007]
