I saw the sobbing child, barefoot and alone, holding a worn out doll, begging for her parents to the US-Mexican border patrol officer.
I saw it.
You saw it too.
I saw the black man’s forlorn gaze as his dreams were held by invisible shackles, yelling ‘‘Momma!” with a knee on his neck.
I saw it.
You saw it too.
I saw the young woman once dreaming of her future whilst walking alone in an empty street, beseeching her abductor to let her go, to stop touching her body, to not kill her, to let her live the rest of her life.
I saw it.
You saw it too.
I saw the Syrian father, with the wrinkles on his face way beyond his years, hugging his children tightly as they embarked in the longest walk seeking to restore dignity and hope for his family.
I saw it.
You saw it too.
I saw the Iraqi mother, trying to hold her wet hijab against the strong winds of the Mediterranean sea whilst begging her God that her overcrowded boat makes it to the other side for better fortunes for her child.
I saw it.
You saw it too.
I saw the frail Uyghur woman, hungry and in tears, fighting the Chinese soldier’s hand pleading to not be raped - one more time.
I saw it.
You saw it too.
I saw the Yanomami elderly man, carrying the weight of so many foregenerations, fighting for the right to live in his ancestral forest without fearing guns and chainsaws.
I saw it.
You saw it too.
As their faces, marred by tear, by fear, by dirt, and by hopelessness, swirls through the world,
I see our common humanity faint.
As their cracking voices merge into a single loud, lasting, deafening clamor,
I hear our common humanity
Crying out loud in pain.
You hear it too.
But in that cry hides a roar
Fading fast but still burning with life.
Shouting, yelling, screaming with all the force that remains,
For you and I
To not stay numb,
To not look away.
For you and I
To give our common humanity a chance to fight.
To regrow.
To reshine.
A chance to survive.
For you and I
To not let our common humanity,
Day after day,
Atrocity after atrocity,
Slowly disappear.
Until we one day learn it became extinct,
Whilst we were enjoying our favorite TV show.
Tucked under our cozy blankets,
On a cold winter night.