Not A Person’

I am not a person, I am a cause

I am the wind that rattles their towers

I am the water that binds minerals in their soil

I tolerate the scorching blaze, and the slow toil

Of bullshit.

*

We are not people, we are a cause

We are the earth beneath their feet

We are the northwest breeze that animates their sand

We speak in an unfamiliar cadence, but the history of this land

Understands. 

*

I am not a resident, I am a cause

I am letters in the eyes of their children

I am the voice in their book of mathematics

I hold all the knowledge, but I must be pragmatic

To survive. 

*

We are not a community, we are a cause

We are the ore in their forge

We are the cure to chronic pains

We are not ungrateful, and we asked for nothing in exchange

But dignity.

*

I have no towers, no soil

My oil comes from olives

There is no prosperity in the world, nor payback

That can make up for what we lack

In freedom.