Can You Forgive Us?

Can you forgive them, the ones who left the world in flames,

who built empires on stolen land and forgot what it meant to be humane,

or is it too late, did they doom your fate?

Can you forgive them, the ones who took generations to understand,

the privilege held through white supremacy and colonialism's bloody hand,

the ones who erased history and songs,

or did they take too long?

Can you forgive them, the ones who left the oceans full of trash,

who tore down forests and choked the sky with oil and gas,

who erased entire species and pushed peoples to the brink,

or is it too far gone, drowned in greed before we can blink?

Can you forgive them, the ones who hid behind psalms and prophets,

to justify the violence they committed for profit,

slavery, genocide, the holocaust in Jesus' name,

or is the world too scarred from irreversible pain?

Can you forgive them, the architects of segregation and Jim Crow's reign,

who built systems to ensure generational pain,

or are we still living in the wreckage they designed,

still carrying the weight of what they left behind?

Can you forgive us, the ones who never healed,

who refuse to see what we've done is real,

Gaza and detention camps, the violence we ignore,

oppression, killing, torture— destruction we can't restore,

Do you think we have time to learn from what came before?

If you can't forgive us, I understand,

we left you wreckage and abused land,

I hope you'll endure and learn from our mistakes,

you didn't ask for it, but you control our fate.

Can you forgive us? I don't think you should.

Sincerely, one of the people who took too long to fight for good.