inclusion

how do we practice
inclusion
when some of us
lean towards
excluding
others

how do I include
what I really don’t like
what makes me feel
unsafe

or ashamed of my being

like rage
or silence
of the
pent-up kind

it used to be
easy
everyone was

just
like
me

or that
at least
was the
assumption

but no!
people love likeness
and express their
discomfort
with otherness
differentness

taking it out
on muslims or jews
on skin color
or social status

we’re all human

how do I treat
those upstream
and downstream
with continuous
levels of respect

for who they are
how they are
how they came to be

how do I include myself
when others’ try
to exclude me
from the club
where I belong

immigrant nightmare
workplace challenge
community opportunity

how can I love
the humanity
of every potential
leader

distinguish doer from deed

how can I strive
beyond 99%

I am privilege
I am oppressed
I am aspiring
to
include
also what I don’t
agree with

nonviolence says
“try to understand”

spirituality says
“our core is the same”

belonging says
“be like me, be like me”

inclusion
through
expansion
stretch out
my senses

belong to the human race
belong to the gentle and the angry
belong to
the biggest possible
we