Kin - by Rosanna Rippel, Spoken Word Artist - performed at IDG Toolkit Launch

Poem text:
Among collapsing towers made of sand, Ripped from the womb, and the soul of the land Humanity stands
Unable to solve problems, he does not understand. Man starts to mirror, the catastrophy at hand
And the casualties are major
People don't feel well
It’s shown in their behavior Everyone can tell
How deeply it hurts to wake up to A truth so hard, to sell
Deep down hope and patience, is wearing thin, and we’re further away than we’ve ever been, from feeling that we’re kin.
And so we try to cope with this widespread sense of being disconnected. Lonely and rejected. Unable to find home, unallied and confused. Starved of cosmic wonder. On a planet we abused.
And when I strike the umbilical cord,
That links us humans with the world, the tune is in minor Like a sad and somber violin
Playing a song called “Where’s our kin?”
But
We are not selfish cells
Buried in compact, lifeless shells
No
We are meshwork of selfless selves
We are colonies. Dwelling in parallel.
We were born to work together, like two rows of teeth
Our crowns are linked above us, roots bundle underneath.
Just put your hand over your belly button. Feel it with your fingers.
We all have this scar in our belly, telling the story of separation. But truth is, it's not a scar from being cut off, it’s a signature of source. The origin of being, the well of all life’s force. And, we are still connected. There is no divorce. We just forgot that we’re a part of, this constant intercourse.
Just feel that marking on your belly, our universal stem
You see, no body came into this life. Before life came into them
Through this navel-gazing. We can learn to see each other. We can learn to relate. To birth and to mother.

***
Yes, with all these ifs and maybies Uncertainty and fear
Make kin more than babies
And learn to hold it, near, hold it dear
Rediscover how to feel related To the whole and to its parts
To love wildly, untranslated With our bodies and our hearts.
“We need to be more human” She whispered in my ear
This voice of truth and wisdom All humans need to hear
We need to be more human
The thirst for it is strong
We want to be more human
We’ve been shut down far too long And the lostness is no error
The heartbreak is not wrong, since There is nothing more human Than wanting to belong
To be with this longing is a door. Only by passing through it will you find what you’re looking for. Be with the longing, the longing to be, human.
Come unity. Lead us into community. Let us remember through the memory of bone, that we never have been and never will be alone. That beside the doom and gloom, there is room, for everyone and everything you have ever loved, on the inside of your eyelids.
We can never be islands, in the ocean of existence There is no actual distance, only pain and resistance And as our sand built structures are starting to cave in We need to make kin
Take refuge in the truth. There is kinship around you. Simply through being alive, it’s something you’re bound to Through the air you breathe, the water you drink
You create this intimate link
And when you die, you will be put in the
ground to, let nature surround you
Rebirth, through the earth
You see, you are always a part and the whole.
Know this, deep within. And you will find the wonderful feeling, of being kin.

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