Traditions

Arnoldo García

Traditions

"THE BOURGEOISIE, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his “natural superiors,” and has left remaining no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest, than callous “cash payment.” It has drowned the most heavenly ecstasies of religious fervor, of chivalrous enthusiasm, of philistine sentimentalism, in the icy water of egotistical calculation. It has resolved personal worth into exchange value, and in place of the numberless indefeasible chartered freedoms, has set up that single, unconscionable freedom—Free Trade." -- The Communist Manifesto

Why is everyone smiling?
Are we things
Are we human
Are we plants
Are we organisms
Are we consumers
Are we workers
Are we professionals
Are we community
Are we a shared DNA pool
locked into shopping, working, spending, accumulating

Am I my clothes
Am I what I own
Am I my university degree
Am I my property
Am I my salary
Am I my laughter
Am I my ancestors
Am I my sons and daughters
Am I my car
Am I my tattoos
Am I East Oakland
Am I Matamoros
Am I Toppenish
Am I Yakama
Am I Ohlone
Am I purépecha
Am I mestizo
Am I humanity
Am I the most disobedient son of mother earth
Am I a smokestack
Am I my ancestor
Am I the long distance runner,
the migrant walking for the last 150,000 years
Am I my bank account
Am I a son of god
Am I a prayer
Am I a profanity
Am I a movie
Am I fast food
Am I a commuter
Am I myself?

Today, I noticed that in the small immediate world
everyone is happy
everyone smiles
everyone walks without a goal, without a destiny
the moment is what counts
the moment when you are in the arms of the woman or man
when you are connected
to the people you love
to the people that you can kiss
in public and in private
with the same, slow intensity
that kiss you save up for passion
to use up for the moments when you are alone.