MonuMental

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.