A Manifesto

Today, I asked my class to write a personal manifesto. Here is my example:

A Her[Man]-i+fest=OH

We are made for more than fashion

More than feelings

More than make-believe monuments to popularity

We are made for more than Marvel movies

And monstrous mounds of money

We are made for silence and solitude and summers in the shade

We are made for Mozart and Leadbelly & lullabies about suicide

For Middlemarch and fairy tales and King Lear going mad

For hailstorms and hurricanes and candle light in quiet rains

For tenderness and mercy

For Love and absolution

And always to be giving

For foolishness and wisdom

For mistakes and misunderstandings

For nothing but the truth, and ever to be seeking;

Let me always open doors and often raise the roof, if only just a little--

Sunlight and fresh air are everyday essentials

(If necessary, break a window!)

Let even the rain and the heat and the cold find their place within me

Every time you sit to eat, leave room for one more

Every time someone asks for help, give everything you have

(And every now and then, give to someone who doesn’t ask)

And when you write, let your pen always move faster

Than your words –and let your words take you where you would not go