Repeating History

By Russell Willis

Do not forget the Greatest Generation

was bred as an isolationist mob

fearing all that washed ashore or crossed the line,

then turning in a generational heartbeat

to face and defeat a true threat

only then to tend to the foe as if somewhere

back in the day they shared a common relation,

transforming the energy of fear 

into a spark of innovative fervor, 

into a green revolution,

piercing arms to rout indiscriminate 

enemies too small to see but

far too dangerous to ignore,

racing to the stars, 

and even discovering dark stains to be 

forgotten at the peril of our individual

and corporate souls, remembering to 

whisper into ears that could hear so 

that we would know and act.

What are we to hope now as our world

spins out of control and we build our fences 

and whisper our fears and hates into the 

soulless void, 280 characters at a time?  

...may God grant us the understanding, 

courage and grace to repeat history.

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Ethicist and online education entrepreneur, Russell Willis, emerged as a poet in 2019. Russell grew up in and around Texas, was vocationally scattered throughout the Southwest and Great Plains for many years, and is now settled in Vermont with his wife, Dawn.