I Know My Duty To Life

©2009 By Alice Walker

I know
My duty
To Life,

I was not
Born
Tomorrow;

How could
I know
How
Hard
It
Will be?

Our children
Cooked
By
An
Indifferent
Sun

Once a Goddess;
Now 
Through
Negligence
& Scanty praise
Simply
Fire.

I know
My duty
To Life,

To stop
Wars
Especially
Those
I cause
Within
Myself.

Who knew?
Fights
With ourselves
Each
Other
&
Her
Led
To the
Encirclement
Of
The globe
In
Ice

& All our
Beloved
Cousins
Furry
&
Non-furry
Stuck
In
It
Forever?

I know
My duty
To Life:

I am grateful to have
Even a glimpse
Of it!

Life
Gives me
This hammock
A close-up
View
Of hand plastered
Walls
&  Blue
Forget-Me-Nots
That bloom
Within
Eyes’
Reach.

Yes
It is Life
That has given
Me
This swinging
White
Hammock
Made of
String
By
Humble
Hands
That
Still
Pray;
This hammock
Sold
For a dollar
On a beach
Littered
Shamefully
But
Still
Beautiful
&
Pure.

I see
That I,
Though
Not
Born
Tomorrow,
Am permitted:
Swinging
Suspended
In time:
To see it
From
Here.