I am here to share with you my history
I am grateful for the lesson life has taught me
To recount my story, finally I feel bold
Because the consequences of it remaining untold
Would weigh heavily on my rather fragile heart
I am not proud of it, but let me start…
Growing up I took my privileges for granted
Living in a wealthy neighborhood, whatever I wanted
Was mine- world travel, university education et cetera
Membership of exclusive clubs, which came with perks extra
Even though much of the world I had seen
There were places close by to which I had not been
In those circles, imperceptibly I acquired
An air of superiority and some biases undesired
I am ashamed to say that I once believed
In white supremacy, yes, I was a racist indeed…
Yet back in those days I did not realize
Any of this, because invisible to my eyes
Were people of color, they inhabited worlds different
That I could not imagine, to which I never went..
I must admit, that unfortunately, I did not set
The best examples for my children, I let
My prejudiced notions be passed along
To them, never thinking that I was wrong
Somehow they turned out much more liberal than me
For which I now thank God immensely
I know you are curious to know what led to
The “change of my heart”, I am coming to that too-
In my middle age, I developed cardiomyopathy-
A weakening of the heart, as bad as it could be
A heart transplant was needed for me to live
For that I needed a once living soul to give
Me a young healthy heart after an untimely demise
After months on the transplant list, I got my big prize
I received a change of heart, literally so
From a donor whose identity I could not know
(Complete anonymity between the donor and recipient
Of a transplant is maintained, it is a requirement)
Fast forward a year, having recovered remarkably
I was curious to know the donor’s family
I reached out to them following the established protocol
The donor’s mother and I decided to meet following a brief call-
While for an emotional encounter I was prepared
This short journey took me where I would not have dared
The address was in a decrepit part of the town
As we drove to the appointment, I could not help but frown
We stopped before a ramshackle tenement
And entered an even more dilapidated apartment
The lady who greeted me was considerably younger than me
She smiled, then started weeping inconsolably
She told me how her eighteen year old had died a year ago
In senseless gun violence, even though
He had been a bright kid, the first one in his neighborhood
To have been accepted to college, he was that good
Then she dried her tears and made the sign of the cross
As I mumbled uncomfortably how I was sorry for her loss
She replied she was grateful to see various recipients
Of the organs of her deceased child, it gave her strength
To go on living, because one thing she knew
Her son had been noble in his death too..
I had a second change of heart that day
Color distinctions in my mind melted away
Had I met my donor in life, I would not
Have associated with him- this thought
Now made me shiver, here I was, alive
Without his heart I would not have survived!
Since then, I have had this thought-
I survived because a lesson I needed to be taught
If not for the transplant I might have lived and died
Racially prejudiced, I might have been denied
The opportunity to learn that distinctions of color and race
In the realm of humanity, have no place..
(Image source: dnaindia.com)
A beautiful poem that touches your heart!
LikeLike