Two years ago, I felt it was important to spend the 4th of July thinking about what it really means to be a citizen of the United States. I went back and read the Declaration of Independence and realized how little of it really felt true to me. So I re-wrote a passage of the original declaration, and instead titled it Declaration of Interdependence. This is a work in progress. It was first published in the Fall 2018 issue of Four Winds Journal.

When in the Course of human events
it becomes necessary for people
to claim their gifts,
a compassionate respect requires that
we communicate and embrace our interdependence.

We hold these truths
to be self-evident,
that all beings are created equal,
that they are endowed by their divine origins,
with certain unalienable gifts,
that among these are Life, Liberty
and the pursuit of Happiness
in relation to and consideration of
every other being and the universe which we inhabit.

That to secure these gifts,
Governments are instituted among humans,
deriving their power to take reasonable action
from the consent and participation of the governed,

That whenever any Form of Government
becomes destructive of these ends,
it is the Responsibility of the People
to question and revise this government
through peaceful and participatory means,
ensuring that its foundation is
based on such principles
and organized in its powers in such form,
as to them shall seem most likely
to effect their equitable and sustainable
Safety and Happiness.

Instead of enumerating injustices, 

I dream and work for justices: 

Each and every one of us 

living well 

thriving

Working together

guided by caring

For our planet, our community, and ourselves.