Life is what it is
And we know only what we have been taught
Or have experienced, lived through.
We learned certain things when I was in school,
About the Pilgrims, the Indians
I was "taught" other things by Westerns on Saturday morning
And weekday evenings
Only the people who lived it know for sure
We were not there.
We can only know and experience our own life
Not the lives of others.
No one knows what one man said to another,
Even if the other wrote it down.
We interpret everything through our own filter
What we have learned, what we have been taught
What we have lived through.
Was Columbus indeed a hero?
And the other colonizers of America?
Or were they barbarians who engaged in wholesale slaughter
And genocide, for their own ends?
Were all the Native Americans innocent victims?
Were all the explorers and colonizers selfish and greedy?
It isn't for us to judge the past in black and white
According to what we've been taught
It is best for us to think for ourselves, find out what we can.
Looking back on history should not be an exercise
In the self-aggrandizement of a nation or people
But something to teach us how to live life better
Than those who fought and killed
And spilled innocent blood
For their own reasons
One day, a hundred years from now
When we are all dead
Others will look back at our time
And judge us too
According to what is written
And taught about our time
And history is written by the conquerors
Comments (1)
"...But something to teach us how to live life better"
Yup.
Like in observation of the "mistakes " made by the living we see around us every day. It's often best to silently learn our own lessons from it, and vow to do better. Sadly, I'm often not convinced that mankind as a whole is guilty of much learning from the errors of the past.
sigh...
blessings, Karen...jim