This is a poem for my brothers and my sisters

Yes the brothers and sisters of my blood

and

Yes the brothers and sisters of my hood

and

Yes the brothers and sisters of my nation

and

Yes the brothers and sisters of my world

And to every single one of my brothers and my sisters

I would like to say I love you

Even when you deny me

Even when you despise me

Even those who would burn me

Just as easily as baptise me

You are my brothers and my sisters

And your cries of pain belie

A unified humanity

We’re not so different you and I

We cry for the same reasons

And die for the same reasons

We try to live our lives

We’re crucified

And demonized

Made blind

For the same reasons

Because then we see each other

Doing the exact same thing

And say for that I’d kill my brother

Watch him bleed upon the streets

But I look upon the faces

From the myriad of places that spring forth humanity

And I see prosperity

I see my sisters and my brothers

Become the fathers and the mothers

Of a not so distant universe of peace

So to those who would kill me I have nothing but greetings

There’s no place for fear in a heart filled with hope

And the only way for us in a violent world to cope

With our brothers and our sisters is to welcome them with warmth

Not ten foot walls and a xenophobic torch

Not cries of anger

Claims our families in danger

From our brothers who are running from the same damn place

And I’d ask that you’d bring the stranger on your doorstep in out of the rain

Who knows?

Maybe someday they’ll do the same