What it really means to inspire

Sun, 11/10/2019 - 06:40 -- Jer

inspire [in spīr’] originally, to breathe or blow  upon or into

i.e. plants inspire us

i.e. we inspire plants

i.e. I breathe because of what has been planted before me

Like that redwood tree that stood firm in the midst of a civil war

And emancipated those cut down and chained because of their “kind”

And gave them a free heart

And a free mind

i.e. I breathe because of what has been planted before me

Like that great oak tree that brought a New Deal to a Great Depression

And fought national poverty

And international tyranny

i.e. I breathe because of what has been planted before me

Like that red maple that wanted to tear a Berlin Wall down

Like that Douglas-fir that was chained for standing against apartheid

Like that quaking aspen that encouraged Americans to ask what we can do for our country

i.e I breathe because of what has been planted before me

Like that giant sequoia that had a dream that one day his offspring would not be judged by the color

of their skin but by the content of their character

i.e. I breathe because of a gardener who took time to water me

place me under sunlight

and take the weeds that might steal my nourishment

i.e. I breathe to let the next generation breathe

for them to breathe the air of freedom

to inhale brotherly love

to take in a sense of pride in themselves

to make the soil they are planted in rich

i.e. they will breathe because of what I have planted before them

inhale

exhale

inspire

enable

live

 

This poem is about: 
Me
My family
My community
My country
Our world
Poetry Terms Demonstrated: 

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