Life is Sacred,
it’s as simple as that.
But…
You put words in our mouths
while We fear for
    our lives
    our friendships
    our careers & communities
Our Lives.


Life is Sacred,
and We are rendered speechless
by the sudden need to
    find other words
    prove our fidelity to this Truth—
the one thing 16 million of Us can agree on.


Life is Sacred,
and while We struggle to formulate
how else We can possibly say it,
We watch as the World
    reframes ignorance
        with the unearned confidence propaganda provides,
    defends us
        with the same breath that vilifies us,
    claims overnight expertise
        on a millennia-long history.


Life is Sacred.
While we’ve been watching our whole Lives—
    Whole Existence
and know the blame is lost somewhere, because there’s always:
    And before that? (British Mandate)
    And before that? (Ottoman Empire)
    And before that? (Roman Empire)
Because We can keep going, all the way back to King David,
but even then we’re still Here and Now—
    losing Sacred Lives.
So instead, a more relevant question:
    And then what?
    And then what?
    And then what?


Life is Sacred,
so We need to think things through,
because it’s not just Our Lives at stake—
It’s the
    girl 15 years from now whose hair falls out of place
    man who finds his soulmate in another man
And, yes, the Dream of a People no one wanted,
but also, the Lives of Two Peoples no one wants.


Life is Sacred,
But Human
    History
    Psychology
    Nature
is complex.


Life is Sacred.
Please think things through.

10/22/2023

Author's Note: חייה רחל

Posted on 10/22/2023
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