When young
we are citizens of the world
descendants of all civilizations
connected to the many places we learn about

I was Egyptian, I was French, and Polynesian too,
Asian, African, Greek, and more. Sailed the seas,
a child of nature, lived in the trees
farmed and fished all over the Earth

I knew all Human Beings were one big Family
I could hear them in their stories, I saw paintings of them
in museums and pictures books, and I heard it said that
people of long ago were much Loved. I thought, just like Family

Even, with me living in Houston, Texas
in 1956, wearing a blue and white checked dress,
in the backyard, batting away mosquitos, watching my Dad
barbecue hamburgers, after picking wild blackberries

I knew I was descended from
Pharaohs, Rulers, Royal Kings and Queens,
Chiefs, Charioteers, and Saintly Warriors to name a few,
not separated by differences but only by Time

Give kids the good stuff and they will hold onto it.
I had one brother, five years older and too cool to play.
We moved a lot, like early civilizations, we migrated,
but I always took my ancient ancestors with me

I walked their cobblestones, burned their incense and candles,
conquered lands on back lots, walked with pride,
tried to greet strangers, looking familiar, but
my Mother pulled me back, surprised by my lack of boundaries

I guess that all the moves from city to city and state to state,
while taking away actual childhood friends, did in their place
give me progressive new teachers teaching from their heart,
expanding the universe in that way, teaching everything!

I was lucky to inherit an immense league of ancestors from so many
cultures and places in time in so many ways,
Now they are all a part of me, and have traveled with me a lifetime,
giving me a great sense of belonging. I am never alone.