An old couple seated on a park bench…lamenting the trouble the world is in…
wondered if there was ever a time when the hierarchy of human values
was not based on the color of one’s skin.
A time when from the mountains to the valleys…across the rivers and the plains…
membership in a society was not based on one’s sex, on race…
or the percentage of blood rushing through their veins..
A time when there were no strangers, no jails…
no toxins polluting our seas, our land…our air…
when people tried their best to be kind, loving…and fair.
When sharing was taught to the young…where it was not only encouraged but expected….
When the intelligence of plants and animals was cherished…and respected.
A time when everyone and everything…no mater who or what
was thought of as a sister and a brother….
where everyone and everything had a place…and none was put above the other.
Suddenly out of the blue…much to this couple’s surprise…
A Native Nation family, who long ago walked on…appeared before their eyes.
They were dressed in their regalia…
made from beautiful beads, feathers and multi-color threads.
They all nodded at the couple then looked to the mother…who said,
“There was a time from whence you speak,”
The couple watched the words from her mouth flow…
“In the universe of time…it was not so long ago.”
“And when your time has run it’s course…
When you’ve sung your final song…
Which as we watch the ways you treat each other
shouldn’t take you very long
When this moment comes….when your evil no longer infects this Earth
then and only then…”
”Will the next inhabitants of this land
have their chance to live that way again.”