Refusing Extinction: A Reminder

A place to settle when it feels like the world wants to erase all you are

and all that made you

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those before me left a trail 

A story, woven into cloth, and planted in seeds

they sang of who they were; in toil and in triumph

They banged the drum language so we would remain us, and know no secrets

Grandmother piled up photos in that old house like she knew time would soon run out

We were here, in this home, on this land 

Through occupation, freedom, a country’s struggle

From the village to the city, from that mountain range to the sea 

Our story has walked all these paths 

Your given name, a title that will always guide you back 

A  refusal to be lost 

So I refuse to forget them

Across the ocean, I remember

Without language to hold their words

Without eyes that know the patterns

They accept, and refuse to let me forget myself

I write with her same ferocity

Time will soon run out, I too have my role to play

No more years will pass in silence

No more children will be born without names and 

Return home to empty lands