The Past

Feb 29, 2008 - 21:15 PM PST

I want the past to affect me,
change the way each vowel
comes off my tongue,
change the way I respect
people

I want the past to take me
in his arms and tell me bed-
time stories of love and
loss, walk me around the
edges of each continent—
through the great barrier
reef and up the amazon
river—and explain the scars
on the land from wars and
life

I want the past to raise me
from infancy and form me
into someone who is not
afraid of war or life, who
can speak—to say what is
not being said, who knows
how to change what is
proper into what is real

I want the past to show me
reality