Ask me what makes someone a person
Ask me what talents someone needs to deserve dignity and respect
To avoid cruelty, captivity and shame
To have their time, to be listened to
And have their rightful claim upon the world.
Opposable thumbs? Flapping gums?
Is it buildings and telephones and satellites and photographs?
Or killings and megaphones and conquerers and holocausts?
Or gossip, envy, curses, and swear words like nigger and lies and ads on TV?
Or art, beauty, culture, feelings like love and poems and paintings and ancient mysteries?
I don't know what makes you a man, but I had an idea one day while I cried
“This is what makes you a man,” I thought with surprise
"This is what makes you a person," I said and I saw
Tears swelling from heart to heart as people stood tall
