20/21 Vision

If we could,
presently,
act retrospectively,
would war and strife
cease to be?
We can look to history
and say
we’ll never repeat the mistakes of those days.
But we commit our sins
in similar ways.
And, deep within,
we know,
we don’t have to be told,
we don’t have to travel down the road
we’re led.
We didn’t get here on our own,
but once the seeds were sown,
the disease had spread,
like an infestation of dread,
leaving so many dead.

But we can’t blame fate
if we haven’t wiped the slate.
If we still cling to the past,
hoping it will last;
if we linger in that place,
we’re the ones to hate.
We know better.
We are not better
people based on race,
or God, or who we love –
but we also are not saints.
And we judge.
But, we choose what to think,
and that choice is up to us.
Are we
judging based off fears,
drawn up by peers
or family? Can we, instead,
lean toward
the love that lives in all of us?
Leave the rest to dry up to dust
and move forward
into a brighter, better future
one where we can trust
each other.
Where we are all brothers
and sisters,
and we lift each other up?

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Reshared for Fandango’s Flashback Friday #FFF