Inheritors of the Past : The Living Chain

Our minds at birth, some say, are blank as slate
A tabula rasa, ready to create  
The inscription of our being, thought, and fate
Through life experiences that educate.

But I suspect that theory’s inaccurate.
For in our genes, epigenetic traits
May carry wisdoms from our ancestry -  
A database of knowledge and memory.

Perhaps the life experiences we accrue
Do more than just determine what we do-
They etch themselves in subtle scripts that twist
Our DNA - this alchemy exists!

Thus what we learn shapes not just neuron paths
But literally transforms our genetic maps-
So when we procreate, these insights can  
Be handed down, a self-transcending plan.

Each generation then is standing tall
Upon the shoulders of the ones who fall-
Who faded into dark, but left behind
Their hard-won knowledge for us to find.

We are not marooned on our single isle
Bereft of elders' wisdom, with no file
To draw from, just our own experience.
In our genes, our ancestors condense

Their perspectives, so we see farther than
They could.  Our roots spread deep in time's rich sand.
We are not just us - we are diffuse,
All those who came before we did infuse

With essence in us.  And when we pass on,
The baton of our being journeys on-
Goes forward into futures we won't see
But whose foundations stem from our debris.

Perhaps enlightenment's a group endeavor
And no one gets there all alone, not ever.
Together, unintended, unplanned,
We morph and grow, self-organizing band.

My cells are multitudinous collection
Of all who spawned this self in all directions
Back through the well of time, beyond the rim-
I'm really them, and they persist in me.

So when I grasp a truth, I grasp for all-
And each truth takes our collective all
A few steps up the mountain.  None alone
Can reach the peak - we either get there prone

Upon each other's humble backs, or not
At all.  This lifts the burden, makes it light-
The journey's done by inches, compromise
Of sacrifice, and little noble tries  

Repeated over lifetimes, generation
To generation, gradual education-
Each act of love moves consciousness ahead
Beyond where single lives leave off, now dead.

And so if you would change the world my friend
You need not take some giant, sudden bend-
Just small corrections constantly applied
Make waves so wide they cannot be denied.

When your eyes gaze on your infant child
Think not their mind is blank, or thoughts are wild-
But see your partner, and your parents too,
All those behind who pass these traits askew.

We stand here not alone, but multitude-
Inheritors of long-lost ancient blood.
So act for all, dream great on others' behalf
Lift up your neighbor - his success gives laugh

To your own lips, for we are interlaced.
Fates intertwined through time and space.
No one is just himself, isolated, cut
Apart from others.  We are rounds connected up.

So let compassion guide you in each motion.
Treat strangers like your long-lost kin, the notion
That we are separate is illusion's folly.
There's just one spirit, rippling melancholy

Or joyous through the ages.  That is what
I am, what you are.  We emerge and jut
Out for a blink, then remerge in the flow
Whose currents far beyond our small lives go

But carry us, transport us, if we heed
True nature's wisdom planted as a seed
In our conscience, known before we're shown the route-  
We're not the first ones here, or last ones out.  

The world is not quite solid, though it seems
So.  There are interstices, spaces, seams
Between the veils.  Sometimes they part and show
The greater truths our grasping minds can't know.

But now and then the clouds break, sun streams through,
We get a glimpse behind the veil.  We view
Reality unmasked, and it inspires
Us to ascend the mountain of desires

Beyond wants ego-driven, to embrace
A hunger for truth, justice, meaning, grace.
Let conscience lead, our compass stayed on True North-
The self will shrivel, but the soul strides forth.

Most fears are just the ego, blindly steering
Us wrong.  Its map is skewed. But conscience clearing
Shows the open road, unwinding bare and true
Before us. Walk it: what we're here to do.

All great ones who glimpsed truth before us lit
Small flames so that together now we sit
In ample light if we but lift our eyes
To see how brightly inspiration lies

Before us, laid like breadcrumbs on the trail  
They walked before.  They did not weaken or fail
Though dreams seemed far.  They fed truth's flickering spark
And passed it to successors through the dark

Times echoing.  That spark lights up this age.
We stand on giants' shoulders, at the stage
Where finally enough of us can know
Truth's universal glow, and jointly sow

Seeds for a world more sane, compassionate.    
Let's realize this mission, concentrate
Our wills on opening hearts and minds to see    
How interlaced our fates, how much we be

One organism, challenged to unite    
And shed the shackles of ignoble night  
Thatthreaten all when we're divided, lost.
Find courage friends! Our bonds make us embossed

Together, strong, a whole far more than sum
Of single parts.  The time for change is come.
We feel it in our bones, our conscience whisper.
Join hands, let not this precious moment wither.

Now is the hour, the cup passed to our lip.
We will evolve, or else fall back, asleep.
This generation holds a fragile fate-
Which way we go is not too late to state.

The choice is ours: to be enthralled by fear
Or stand for truth.  Let conscience be our seer,
Guiding to act from wisdom and our hearts
United by compassion's sacred arts.

A child's mind is not really blank at birth-
In their deep eyes, a knowing depth has worth.
So let us all reclaim that innocent sight,    
And dance together in creative light.

We've the same identity behind these faces.
Searching self, unsure, but moonlight traces
Our common contours, shared humanity.
We waver, yet may find security

In moorings anchor-deep we share beyond
All changing traits that shroud our bond.
Peel off those veils of ignorance and fear:
A truth emerges, glowing bright and clear.

We are all one - science and sages sing
This same refrain.  Can we hear how it rings
Calling us to awaken, extend our reach  
Into uncharted waters, far from each

Isolation's island? Wisdom knows
We're fingers of a hand.  Where one goes
We all go.  Lift each other, let compassion wind    
Into our DNA, unlock hearts and minds.

The child I cradled yesterday, so small,  
Contains the promise, potential of us all.
Let's build by little steps a world anew
That all may thrive, our full life journeys through.

Though clouds of suffering at times draw near
Together, we kindle hope, radiate good cheer
That lifts each other even in life's trials.  
We share the light, it multiplies as smiles

Ripple outward, kindness echoing.    
None awakens alone.  We're blossoming  
In concert, seeds from ancestors now flow'ring.
Rejoice in interbeing's empowering

Promise! With compassion as our guide    
Fear cannot thrive, its darkness turns to light
Lit by empathy, acting for the good    
Of all our kind, as deep in our souls we know we should.