Past Lives
I was once a parent killed at assembly speaking out for the fair education of my children.
I was once a soldier who learned to stand against the tyranny on his uniform.
I was a doctor facing ruin from treating the poor during dinner hour.
I was once a sister pushing classmates off her brother at school.
I was a surgeon helping violated and underprivileged women.
I was once a cellar door marked as the Underground Railroad.
I was once an anti-Saddam pamphlet circulated in Iraq.
I was once a secret Internet server in China.
I once warned freedmen when an assault was planned.
I once hired women for fair pay before I had to.
I always opened the door for my neighbor’s children because I know what went on there.
I was once born to a tribe that made blankets for lepers instead of warring with their brothers.
I kept my Chinese daughter.
I was the first slave ready to fight for his country.
I once nailed science experiments to the doors of cathedrals.
I used to picket tobacco growers because our crop produced better smoke and oil and paper and rope.
I was the first to break bread with my enemy so we might better learn about ourselves.
I once made a machine that eased tortured bodies from their pain.
I was the flicker of a million silent candles in Laramie, Wyoming.
I was the first Nazi who changed his mind.
I was once a prophet unafraid of speaking out in a sinful world.
I was once a spokesperson for freedom.
I was once a candidate for truth.
I was once a valid life given for a cause they hold most dear.
I was once a child abandoned by a parent capable of raising me.
I once argued with an officer.
I was a Central Park visitor robbed for his jacket.
I once was a teacher found guilty for teaching.
I was once a minority group leader suffocated in a burning house one Sunday morning.
I was a Mexican immigrant who did hard, honest work.
I was once a chief urging peace with the settlers.
I was once the target of a media ploy.
I was an interracial couple uncomfortable at a new church.
I went to an urban elementary school where I was hesitant to succeed.
I once set sail on an unsinkable ship.
I almost stopped for breakfast on September 11th.
I once was a sapling bulldozed in a rain forest.
I was going to hatch at one point.
I once won the popular vote.
I became the most famous man trampled by a tank that day.
I was once the largest glacier in the North Sea.
I always got to high school on time at Columbine.
I was once a soldier acting for a cause they believed in.
I was once right in a world that was wrong.
I once had relentless virtue.
I now have the inability to be silent.
You should publish this… everywhere
Thank you.