Note from the creator: In my personal efforts of decolonizing my mind, body, spirit, and relationships, I would write letters to my ancestors and imagined who they were and what they were like. But I have more recently wondered and imagined what it would be like to be one someday. Here is the first of many letters.
To my descendants. My spiritual, and maybe my biological ones
My every breath, word, and act is meant to say this louder, “Enough is enough,”
With my life, may I plant seeds by telling the truth to the ones who went before you
and to the things that are now around you
And may these seeds bear fruit and flowers to give you a full life,
where you no longer need to apologize
for having your own voice,
your own thought,
your own preference and will
A life that does not require that much effort to breathe,
to inhabit a space with a story to tell
I may never live long enough to know your name,
your dreams,
the repertoire of your creative, original work
sung and displayed,
or kept secret as they might be too sacred to be shared,
like a prayer you whisper whenever you get scared.
And when you get scared, may you sing my song I hope was passed on and on
That tells you that you are formidable and strong
And loved and known
by someone from a generation or so ago
If in my time right now, I have little space to take and speak,
may I then find a home in the trees you climb on,
the dirt that touch your feet,
or maybe the stars you gaze at and that gaze back at you
to remind you that you have that fierce sweetness, and that sweet fierceness
that will leave them all undone
and make them come alive all at once
I do wonder if you will also come to love water, and karaoke,
and being with friends and family, and banana bread
And while we are on the topic of what you might have inherited,
may you, unlike me, never have to wear secondhand shoes and shirts,
and never have to say secondhand words
And may you, unlike me, never ever be abandoned
But if ever that you do,
may you never ever abandon you
May you never inherit my scar, and instead, choose and love who you will become and who you already are
May you never be blinded by image or wealth;
to never give in to hating others, which often starts with hating yourself
May you instead inherit this bursting dream of freedom that can never be tamed;
but if it ever must be, then may it be tamed by love
And now I let love baptize me with my tears
that have been stored up for years and years,
tears that are not even my own, so that the ones you will shed would be yours alone
And yes I say, “enough is enough,”
yet Love bids for more.
Love is not only concerned about the things we could be free from,
but also what we could be free for.
May you hear these words at a time when we have already taken care of the things you could be free from
And because Love demands for more, I hope all you wonder today is what your freedom is now and finally for
gabes torres 