It is always easy
to think that we could
do better than our parents,
until we are one.

It is always easy
to think that we would
be kinder than others were
without knowing their struggle.

It is always easy
to accept current propaganda
as certainty
until we have
identified with another culture.

It is always easy
to condemn our historical figures
with 20/20 vision
from the safe distance
of their future.

It is not easy
for any of us to admit
that we have all failed too
in ugly hateful ways;

And that many of those before us
had stories that deserved
better than our arrogant know-it-all woeful rebuke.

But until we do,
we only prove the point.