when we shake hands or hug or kiss cheeks we are saying
we are world travelers in time and space and emotions but here we are at the same spot together
because the world is small.
when we refuse to touch, when we deny that moment of humanism, brotherhood, sisterhood
we are saying the world frightens me, you scare me, your hand your intentions, your mind.
when we refuse, you are saying, i want to be in my world and mine is different than yours
yours is one of x, y, and z and mine is nothing at all like yours, and certainly not from a
loving, trusting, honestly communicating place.
when he refuses your hand, he is saying, i cannot even pretend to be civil right now
NO I CANT EVEN
he is saying i am of a different class than you, a better one – even if i am weak.
when we shake hands we are saying we are one, we are we, we have very briefly unionized and merged.
but when we refuse that hand, that very simple gesture that goes back all the way to the begining
we are saying this is not the begining
it is the end.
and we have both failed.