Notes From Freedom's Heart Poem by Eric Cockrell

i spend a lot of my time writing
about freedom, dignity, and equality....
using a lot of different forms, just
trying to be heard....
but i've come to the understanding
that whether i write it, sing i, play it
on guitar, paint it, dance it, or write
it on signs and march it.....
doesnt matter!
what matters is whether i live it!

when i can look into another human being's
eyes and not see color, gender, religious
or political idealogies, or sexual preference...
when i know that their mistakes and failures
are my own... that there is no difference
between us... that we have the same needs
and desires... and that we need each other.....

when i'm willing to listen, to offer a hand up, willing
to work and walk beside of (not in front of!) ....

when my thoughts, words, and actions reflect a deep
reverence and respect for all that lives....
when my choices validate humanity.....

when i can see without judging... when i'm
willing to speak the truth at all costs....
to give all that i have, and all that i am,
regardless of the risk....
when my own life matters less to me than
the lives of those i come in contact with....
when i'm willing to stand up for what's right,
for compassion, and for hope... even if it
costs me my own life....

then, and only then, i will have become
the poem i've tried all of my life to write...
then and only then, i will have become
fully human.... and will have answered the call
that we all have....

will i continue to write? yes!
but day by day, moment by moment....
i'll keep working!
will you join me?