Community
Power is not swayed by competence but size
Here under heaven, where all is for some prize
To those last standing firm atop the mound,
But with these folks our lives are tightly bound.Oppression did not end with feudal day,
Nor tribal bondage melt at white-man’s say,
But ethnic ties which bind us to our kin –
Became oppression’s bond that kept us in.The Laird cleared folk from lands for Scottish sheep
The House of Lords drove Irish from their keep
The Barons’ greed swept Welsh and English too
Those claiming land were shown to be the fool.To cities swept this hoard of newly freed
And onward to fresh promise oversees
They fled the bonds of tyranny and cross
Industrial might and kinship’s grinding cost.They swept aside the natives overseas
And for a time felt freedom’s cooling breeze
But Europe’s ways came with these settlers new
The blight of power-abuse for these folks too.The smallest fly between two panes of glass
Attempts to flee the limits of its past.
Strong rocket thrust we need to break earth’s bonds
If we’re to reach a universe beyond.Our drive for freedom from the ties that bind
Us to ourselves and neighbors of like mind
Must break through bonds unseen at journey start
Else we are doomed to fall back into dark.Ourselves we face in geographic cure
Of nests we’ve spoiled or bondages secure –
Both flies and people have their ways of life
That when repeated, take us back to strife.Our problem’s not out there for us to flee
But of an essence – deep in you and me.
The bonds we break requiring such great force
Hold us intact as we pursue our course.Most cannot fly or soar with rocket’s glare
But we can walk in freedom if we dare:
I alternate each foot – one firm one free
So move along – self and community.navigation