It’s not so much that you had nothing as that you were
Unable
Limited
To bring about the greatness of your heart
So much so true
In so little time
Whether by will or blindness
Unable to share
Unable
Then so much do the questions emerge:
'Is greatness not in actions
More than it is in possibility?'
'Yes'
This world speaks 'yes'
This world which has laid so many
Who could not defend themselves
To rest
After peaceless slaughter
To be unknown and unloved
In an empty void that places some above others
That is our history
And history of ‘the strong’
As this world says
But I know a boy
Who this world would kill and leave behind
To be unloved
Forgotten
Or be chucked in a cage
For people to view
Or put in a home
Grouped with many
And given the bare minimum
To merely be kept alive
At best
And terribly mistreated
At worst
And this boy instead
Had a decent life
With a family
At whatever cost he was to them
Paid full in love
And for this boy was an exception made
Against the rule
As he was perceived
Moment by moment
Day by day
The way his eye looked about a room
And seemed to see secrets no one else could know
The slow touch of his crumpled soft fingers on your face
As he looked for your ears
The hums of his joy splashing in water
Every time for the first time
The holding so tight of his arms as he was sung to sleep
That pealing off his arm was a challenge afterwards
These and so many more perceptions
Which could have never been where love did not exist
Have been imbued with the spirit of such greatness
That this theory of the strong must indeed be false
That such a little person has been gifted to my life
Gives me pause as I become entangled by these values
Of the ‘ables’ and the ‘stars’ and the ‘beautiful’
And I thank everything that his little hand has touched me
