If we wish to be thorouha
Then we should begin with Satyagraha
Sanskrit for Truth, or Satya
And firm politeness, or graha
If we wish to be thoreau
Then we should begin with Henry David Thoreau
Who obediently opened the river floodgates
By penning his essay on Civil Disobedience
Which Mahatma Gandhi thought a wonder and marvel
Since Thoreau’s essay applied to Indians in Transvaal

Rivers of Wisdom
Can dissolve the most calcified
Pillars of Kingdom
If we wish to be thora
Then we should consider the Brahmaputra
Or, ponder upon those other rivers awhile
Such as the Ganges, the Tigris, the Euphrates
And the Nile
For all those rivers throughout thorough time
Meandered around and cut their way through
The towering pillars of oppression and cruelty
With a polite, disobedient firmness, or graha
With an eternal, indestructible Truth, or satya
The great rivers are still with us, still here, silently forever
While empires of tyrants and demagogues have all fallen
The noise of Genghis Khan is silenced by the Brahmaputra
The noise of the Pharaohs of Egypt is silenced by the Nile

Left to right: Melinda Jones Williams (13), Laura Ruff Saunders (13), Mattie Crittenden Reese, Pearl Brown, Carol Barner Seay (12), Annie Ragin Laster (14), Willie Smith Davis (15), Shirley Green (14), and Billie Jo Thornton Allen (13). Sitting on floor: Verna Hollis (15).
If we wish to be thorough
Then we should begin tracing the meandering River of Wisdom
From an essay, by Henry David Thoreau, on Civil Disobedience
To the non-violent Satyagraha movement by Mahatma Gandhi
To the Civil Rights Movement by Martin Luther King Jr. who said:
“Satyagraha and the non-violent movement of Mahatma Gandhi
Was profoundly significant to the social reform I had been seeking.”
This was also true for Lech Walesa on frosty shipyards of Gdansk
Against pillars of Communism – as it was true for Nelson Mandela
Against pillars of Apartheid

The truly thoughtful discern, through history, through time thorough
Rivers of Wisdom
Can dissolve the most calcified
Pillars of Kingdom
— Karim