The spirit tells me

My people tell me,

I am an heir of a great civilization

We are strong

and have shaped the world

As an heir of this great civilization,

I am strong

I am powerful

I am important

As I live into the destiny of my people

My pride grows fierce

I knock all who question my people

I fight for my people

One day, a spirit tells me

I am not an heir of this great civilization

I take offense at the spirit

“We are strong,” I reply,

“and we have shaped the world”

I grow anxious at the spirit's message

If I am not an heir of a civilization so great

I may not be strong

I may not be powerful

I may not be important

My pride grows fierce

One long night, I fight the spirit

As we fight,

I tell the spirit

“I fight for my people”

The spirit says,

“No, you fight not for your people,

You fight for your pride”

The spirit knocks me

He breaks my pride

He gives me a limp

But I wake the next morning
and walk away a new man

The spirit tells me

I am an heir in a divine family

We are strong

and we have shaped the earth

But our strength is hidden

And we walk in humility

No longer does my pride grow fierce

For I know my place
and the destiny of my family

I watch many in the civilization of my youth

fighting, they say, for our people

but they fight for their pride

May the spirit I met come to them

and fight with them

and reveal their divine source

“Which civilization is that of your youth?"

You ask, thinking you know

You realize not
The civilization of my youth

is in every time

every place

every culture

and every religion

It is your civilization

May the spirit I met come to you

and fight with you

and reveal your divine source