by Ernie McCray
As I look at a picture taken a few years ago
of me with my children
I find myself thinking
of how
all I ever wanted for them
and their children
and their children’s children
on and on
in future times,
was for them,
and all of the nation’s citizenry,
to live in a country
where their life’s dreams
could be fulfilled
in an atmosphere
where love and human respect
and a commitment to a just world
reign supreme.
But, oh, little did I know,
as I, over the years,
set examples for them to live by,
that although I was once able to buy
a house, on a beginning teacher’s salary
that often seemed like negative numbers,
that they and theirs almost have to have incomes
suitable for a king
if they’re to own a home they could claim as their own.
And how could I have known
that their grocery bills would be
what my mortgage once was
and I surely couldn’t have ever surmised
as I created learning environments
for students
meant to open their eyes
and encourage them to think with analytical minds
that someday
there would be a movement
to remove the teaching of truths
from classrooms in our schools,
actions that can’t possibly
improve the minds
of my offspring
down the line.
And since I’ve marched in the streets
for civil rights for everyone
and over time came to bask in what justice
was won
it weakens my knees
to see
the evolving of an autocracy
right in front of me
by a man who strikes out at our democracy
like some likeness of Freddy Krueger
clawing away at a victim
in a nightmarish dream.
Makes me want to scream.
Oh, they laugh in our face
with not even a hint of a pretense
of caring.
But I sense
that the branches and leaves
on my Family Tree
who’ve come along after me,
will find the means,
like those who came before me,
to continue our legacy
of living lives of intention and kindness
and contributing to the general
wellbeing of humanity.
It’s such thoughts
as these
that allow me to sleep
peacefully.
