Ancestry.com
Ancestor veneration is a lovely concept.
Honoring those who are responsible for our very
existence and blood that runs through our veins.
A concept you embrace until you find that those before you were
just people.
People who drank too much,
beat their wives and children,
owned and sold their fellow human beings for profit,
who were flawed, broken,
immoral and dishonorable.
What offerings do I have for these ancestors of mine,
other than the knowledge that I do not wish to honor
them as people,
and gratitude for the $24.99 I spent just to learn that the dead
are often better off forgotten.
7 thoughts on "Ancestry.com"
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Better now to go digging? Let sleeping relatives lie? Fantastic first line! I love the reminder that “those before you were just people.”
Should be “better not to go digging.”
I love and get this. We should talk sometimes. I’ve been looking into mine as well. Damn.
You said it and it’s not that easy to say. I’ve been digging up bones too.
This poem reeks of truth! <3
It’s also true that those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.
Pretty enlightening and sobering to see how many slave owners we’re related to.