Dear Man,

 

In the beginning you and I, we, were created from the earth we were molded carefully our bodies were crafted by the hands of One with such beauty painted with tones and hues of reds and blues.

And with one breath we obtained life, and with it,

hope, and with it,

freedom.

Our bodies were draped in all shades of purple.

Yes, we were created Kings and Queens,

Placed on thrones we neither built nor worked for nor earned

Thrones founded upon the mutual respect between us

Our different lives intertwined as words sung by many voices in harmony.

We were to lead each other, together.

We thrived, together

 

One day, Man, sitting high on your throne,

you turned aside to look at me.

And what had once been a face with features of love, humility,

compassion, honesty, empathy, laughter

Was now a face of hatred, pride, apathy, distrust, deception, anger.

You turned aside to look at me and decided

that my humanity is nothing compared to your humanity

In that moment, Man, you destroyed my throne

wresting my authority

forcing me to stand below and look up to one who WAS my equal.

 

And, you know, I would think that the self-satisfaction you had from the actions you took to ensure yourself that you were - at least in your mind - the only one in high places, was enough to satisfy you.

But greed is power,

and power is ambitious,

and ambition is restless.

Long nights you spent

restlessly sorting through scattered thoughts

struggling to reconcile within your selfish heart the fact that I,

though lower than you in authority,

still had my freedom.

 

 

And so arose your new drive

Shackles you placed on my feet so that

       the burden of venturing out of familiarity,

       the burden of discovering new possibilities,

       the burden of running towards opportunities

       discouraged me from doing so.

Shackles you placed on my hands so that

       the burden of stretching them out to comfort my own,

       the burden of shaking another's hand in agreement,

       the burden of rising to work for change

       discouraged me from doing so.

Shackles you placed around my neck so that

       the burden of looking forward and seeing past my present,

       the burden of peering into my child's eyes and telling him to pursue his dreams,

       the burden of looking up and watching the painting of the sky

               as night became dawn and as day became dusk

       discouraged me from doing so.

 

Down.

You looked down at ME as

Eyes that once beheld me with familiariTY

no longer recognized this human BEING

sitting head between KNEES

chained to the earth.

I could sense the war raging within you: Your eyes,

begging your heart to have compassion; your mind,

enticing your heart with the prospect of despotic rule

 

Down.

I stayed because YOU had taken from me the strength to rise.

Physically I was bound to this earth,

but still a song rose from the ashes of my broken heart.

Songs I sang of days past and of days to come.

In harmony they joined,

together guarding in our hearts the one treasure we had left.

 

These songs ROSE,

and from your THRONE you heard the faint sound of HOPE in our voices,

Far from pleasing to your ears.

And so AROSE your new drive:

to disenchant me of my hope by making

the disadvantages of waking

up everyday

outweigh

the beauty that my world had to offer.

 

When my heart became too weak from the work it took to keep breathing,

My eyes were opened, and I realized something.

 

You, Man, are ingenious - in the worst sense of the word.

Cleverly manipulative,

gambling with the lives of human beings.

I've realized that because power is greedy, and greed is ambitious,

you will stop at nothing to leave lifeless any being within reach of your

predatory

human

hands.

                                                                                                                                                                                                        

And so I am writing this letter to you to remind you that

In the beginning I was created

From the earth I was molded

carefully my body was crafted by the hands of One

with such beauty

painted with tones and hues of reds and blues.

And with one breath I obtained life, and with it, hope, and with it, freedom

And, Man, you can give power to your insecurities,

you can usurp my authority, take away my freedom,

you can make sure that I am exactly where you want me to be -

tired, helpless, worn, hopeless, empty.

But know that this moment marks the beginning of the end of your rule.

Because I am now conscious of your DRIVE,

a day is coming when I and my own will find the strength to RISE

and STRIVE to restore the balance of respect that your PRIDE and greed destroyed.

 

That day is coming.

 

Sincerely,

Me