CREATIVE CREATURES

A poem by Brazilian applied peace linguist Francisco Gomes de Matos,
a member of our Humiliation Studies Research group:

Are we truly deserving
Of being described
As creative creatures?
We can live all our days
In abundant, plentiful, or sufficient ways!

What about those without
Those who share survival
As a sustainable goal
And strive to keep alive
Weak in body, but strong in soul?

Creatures truly creative
Are all the world’s poor
Who face and solve problems
Only of hope being sure
While becoming media news

Creative we think we are
But how humanizingly so
If the things we create
The seeds we often sow
Seldom reach the poor?

Creatures painfully creative
Are all the world’s citizen-less
Born in poverty extreme
Teaching lessons in kindness
To the privileged on Earth

Humane creativity
As a term it exists
As a universal mission
A gap seriously persists
A challenge to compassion

Creatively the poor live
Aiming at one meal a day
Pretending to have a roof
Having so much to say
Wanting some land to stay

Creative creatures are we?
How humanizingly so?
It’s not enough to care
To say we’d like to share
The benefits we can sow

Let’s make this world anew
Rebuild it with a spirit true
So kindness will guide
Actions here, there, and afar
Let’s learn from the poor
For creative only they are!