Tuesday, September 13, 2016

A story is a story is a story

Grace, 10, rescued Tutsi newborn Vanessa
Despite her Hutu family's disapproval
A story is a story is a story

Find Oscar, only a child in Guatemala when
His family was killed and their killers took him in
A story is a story is a story

Anne from Amsterdam was pulled
Out of the attic, never to go home again
A story is a story is a story

Sam, 8, walked the plank into the Euphrates
In front of a Turkish bayonet
A story is a story is a story

Jiashou fell to the ground once the Japanese
Bullets fired, hiding life in a sea of dead bodies
A story is a story is a story

Sisowath tracks down her father's executioner,
Former Khmer Rouge have no truths to hide
A story is a story is a story

Ismail, Zakaria, Ahed, and Mohamed,
Lived and died in the lands of
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
Bless the field they play upon

A nation founded on ideals,
Free from persecution,
A sanctuary for the oppressed,
Simultaneously the oppressor

It is possible to become the very thing
You ran away from
Very easy to provide
Life to some and
Death to others
Easier still to
Shut your eyes

It is harder to do what is right
To admit that the promised land
Has broken its promises
To listen to the stories
On the other side of the wall
To share them with the world
To stand by your mission
To expand your vision
To treat others as you want
Others to have treated your ancestors
To make a change

Say the word
P in Hebrew
F in Arabic
But G is for genocide
Testimony can be your mission
Peace can be your vision

If, and only if,
A story is a story is a story
And a life is a life is a life.

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