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“And you, who are you

if you hear my voice?

Who are you, stranger

if you read these words?

Who are we

who stand threatened

in these times of darkness?

Who are we, condemned to die,

who do not know ourselves

at all?”

I hear your voice calling to us from the dead.

The enmeshment that runs through the DNA of multigenerational trauma, suffering, and running. It was born into our bellies and chests.

Who am I? I am the seventh generation of suffering that says it is going to stop here. The fear of the pogroms born into the hard root of my heart, the tattoo on my arm that falls like a flag for my brother, my sister, my parents, yours.

I am what exodus is. Daring to leave the narrow space and enter the vast uncertainty of consciousness, when none of us know who we are because we are everything and nothing.

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Brilliant poem. I could truly feel your mother with every word

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I’m in awe of this

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A poem that stretches tbrough time while diminishing it.. quite the feat 👏

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Were I not out of tears, I'd cry for us, strangers in a strange land all.

Thank you for this. I have the book -- it's been awhile since I read through it.

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A beautiful punch to the gut. Just brilliant!

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Yes... and I wonder what he thinks of what we have become in the last decade or 2 since this poem..and more obviously, what we have become since 2020. And what is happening now in the world at large and in the middle east

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Good morning and thank you for this poem. ❤️

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Hola , Algo Me Hizo Contener La Respiración , Como Nieto De Un Republicano Español , Mí Abuelo Estuvo En Dos Campos De Concentración , Salvó Su Vida De Puro Milagro. Éste Poema Llego Hondo a Mí Corazón. Un Saludo.

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The American Dream is killing me

The American Dream is killing me

When it's all double-talk of conspiracy

The American Dream is killing me

Send out an S.O.S

It's getting serious

Bulldoze your family home

Now it's a condo

We are not home

Are we not home?

Goddamn, I am so grateful

Forever faithful to

The American Dream is killing me

The American Dream is killing me

People on the street

Unemployed and obsolete

Did you ever learn to read the ransom note?

Don't want no huddled masses

TikTok and taxes

Under the overpass

Sleeping in broken glass

We are not well

Are we not well?

Cracked up into the wild

The American Dream is killing me

The American Dream is killing me

When it's all double-talk of insanity

The American Dream is killing me

Say

From sea to shining sea

Whitewashed upon the beach

My country under siege

On private property

We are not home

Are we not home?

Kiss me, I'm dead inside

Who needs suicide when

The American Dream is killing me

The American Dream is killing me

When it's double-talk of insanity

The American Dream is killing me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1TDvy7djJg&ab_channel=GreenDay

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Thank you once again for selecting such beautiful work. Art is essential, and all healing is everyone's healing. I love how this man describes his mother's trauma inside of him. I wonder how he and she could transform that.

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Our daily quest; know thyself ❤️

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I get it. I can relate. I have written about it too. The past and present knaw at me too as I confront the past of my parents and the reality of a massive plague of addiction and povery at my doorstep.

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Strange how strangers can bring up a strange feeling of a strange ache in this strange heart

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Generational trauma.

We are vessels still holding our ancestors pain and suffering. Whether the suffering was caused from;

-Oppressive class systems.

-Apartheid governments like South Africa and Israel.

-Genocidal campaigns against an specific ethnic/religious group like the Europeans did to the Aboriginal people of the Americas and Australia, the Europeans did the Roma, Pols, homosexuals and Jews of Europe, the Belgians did in the Congo, the British did in Yemen and throughout the African continent, the French did in Algeria and the Zionists are doing in Occupied Palestine.

South Africa is an example of a country healing from decades of horrific injustice and trauma. Black and white South Africans learning to see each other as equals and working together to right old wrongs. How this was made possible was by the Apartheid government taking responsibility and accountability for their their crimes against humanity. There is still a long way to go. But they stand as a bright beacon of hope for other persecuted people of the world.

Healing from trauma is necessary otherwise those who were once the victims become the perpetrators.

"The lesson of the Holocaust is not that innocent people were murdered in the millions. It is, if there is genocide occuring we must all do what we can to stop it no matter who the perpetrators are or who the victims are. Never again means never again for anyone," Chris Hedges.

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The Empire

by The Frontier Man

In halls of smoke, in screens of light,

The Empire wears a face so bright.

It smiles in films, in news it speaks,

Concealing well the pain it wreaks.

Yet listen close, you'll hear the cries,

Beyond the reach of public eyes,

of justice stolen, peace undone,

In countless lands under the sun.

They say it's normal, say it's fine,

The endless wars, a grand design.

But what of Yemen's children’s plea?

Iraqis’ deaths and poverty?

We’re taught to look, yet not to see

The Empire's hidden tyranny.

Beneath the mask, what horrors dwell,

In hidden vaults, we cannot tell.

Let's turn our gaze to what's been hid,

Unveil the truths the strong forbid

By breaking “norms”, we might reclaim

The normalcy of love's true name.

So point and say, "Look, there it is,"

Each hidden shame, each dark abyss.

For justice, love, and peace should reign—

Let’s pull Empire from its plane.

Dismantle myths and cast them down,

From Hollywood to every town.

Let’s learn the truths we didn’t hear

And see the world with eyes so clear.

For what's been normal can still change,

If our love expands its range.

So let's unmask Empire’s spin,

And build a world worth living in.

The Empire, the country song just released: https://www.versesvisions.com/p/the-empire-country-song-released

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