At the root of all the harm we cause is ignorance.
— Pema Chödrön
I am ignorant. I don’t think about it a whole lot.
I am ignorant. I use fossil fuels to get places when I could walk.
I am ignorant. The food I eat migrates to my plate and I usually am not grateful.
I am ignorant. Refuge children are shot and orphaned because of my ways.
We are ignorant. We pay into the military industrial complex with war taxes.
We are ignorant. We elect the lesser of two evils. He is weak and feeble.
We are ignorant. We push migrant rights to the back of our minds.
We are ignorant. We never lifted a newspaper to read about Rwanda.
We are the eyes and ears of earth. Speak clearly and listen.
We all are dying. The planet is dying. We are the river, the desert, the pasture.
We are the skin of a sad earth. We ignore too much of what pains us.
We have a choice. We don’t have to be ignorant.
I can slow this self annihilation. It will be hard.
I must go against the stream, even if the rest of my school beats on me.
I will talk about the destruction.
I will not be ignorant. I have a choice. I can have a “wild and precious life.”
I can decide what this means for me. It might mean a simple diet of beans and rice.
I might give up riding in cars for life, not just lent. I am powerful.
I can write poems! I used to be ignorant, worst. I used to kill without much thought.
I have a life that matters. My life has an impact; the way I live can inspire other minnows.
Maggie Hess