A Dignity Observed by Mark Waters

She stands with statuesque dignity

On a tired, tired day,

A day preceded by too many days of back bus

Indignity,

A day exhausted by countless days of weary

Injustice.

Finger prints try to steal her

            Identity,

Prints inked-black on paper cards.

            But

Her identity will not be flattened

            Into parchment solitude.

Her solitude is not isolated,

            But in solidarity

With all who have been pushed

            Back,

To the back of the bus or to a shame-filled

            Place

In the shadows of the Heart.

Keep your seat,

            Let the Heart-shadows be drenched in

Light.

Keep your seat, centered in the dignity of your own beautiful

            Heart,

That light-filled place that is

            You!

Then stand!

Stand with statuesque

            Dignity

In the Identity that cannot be inked-black on paper cards.                        

Stand with dignity

In the light-filled center of your own

            True Heart!