Poem: "All the Important Things"

whuffle

History’s full of important things –
big battles and bright inventions,
all the busyness that men get up to
in the cities and the civilizations.

They’re like to forget the little things
and the little people – women in particular.
They’re like to forget all about them
until something up and bites them in the ass.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned
about history, it’s this:
the biggest changes start
with the smallest seeds,
the way an avalanche starts
with two snowflakes getting frisky.

One day I wondered out loud,
“How did Rosa Parks find the energy
to stand up to the bus driver
instead of going to the back of the bus?
She was a secretary and a seamstress –
she had to be tired half to death!”

“Let me tell you,” my teacher replied,
“All the important things in the world
are done by tired people.”