I have often written about freedom, about what it means, how it is distorted, when it comes, how it almost always feels like it is out of reach, how we are deceived into believing it has arrived, how we continue to yearn for it. This short poetic piece is a reflection of my feelings about how resistance and agitation for all manner of freedoms are generational and transnational struggles. We stand where we are, pushing for freedom, being able to imagine it, only because of those who came before us, who fought for the same freedoms we fight for now. And our cross-continental, cross generational struggles are connected. And so, we also draw strength from those fighting similar battles elsewhere in the world. And those who will come after us draw strength from all who have lived before them. We become unstoppable across time and space. Together. This is what they say to us.This is what we say to them:
Despite the distance of time
We know your lives
Because we live brokenness
Everyday.
Scars of the wounds you suffer now
Are old friends marked beneath our skin.
The toxic fumes you breathe in
Now
Have already blackened our lungs.
But our souls…
Our souls are pure
For you
Forever
We live
Here
For you
Forever
We will be
Here
For you
Forever
Forever
Forever.
