I am a Human

The following post is a poem by Gerard Kelly.

I am a person
not a potato
to be picked and packaged
and sent to market
to be sliced and diced
chopped up and ketchupped
on the other side of the world.

I am human
and I am not for sale.
I am a living conscience,
not a cargo.
I travel passenger
not freight.
I am not cattle
not contraband,
not a catalogued commodity.
I’m not the bottom line
for those who trade in tragedy
and profit from perversity.
I am not a can
to be recycled.

I am human
and I am not for sale.
I am a thinking individual,
not a rare exotic bird.
I am your sister,
not an inmate for your zoo.
I am not merchandise,
not meat,
not a meal ticket.
I was mothered,
not manufactured,
begotten,
not created.

I am human
and I am not for sale.
Its time to end this trade
in human tragedy,
to terminate this travesty
of a global economy.
Let the red lights
of your cities
be put to better use
to stop the traffic.
Write itin lights
across your seared conscience:

I am human
and I not for sale