I Don’t Wake
I rise
quick, What's the biggest difference between rains and tides?
One can feed the fields, one can kill for miles
What's the reason I have for defending mine?
I'll give you a hint, this is the war of ideas
This is war when you wake to news every day
Calls to violence and injustice. Quick, What's the name
for "these days"?
When war takes taxes like names
We need heroes with resumés
We need houses in safe places
hospitals, businesses,
Not bombs everyday. Sometimes,
peace costs more than a brave face
To cross oceans takes more than a spotlight
You have to drive yourself through the storms
Say,
I will not be at war.
I will not pay
for those who keep me fighting
I will not stand for death
I will not be defined by "these trying times."
I correct them. I define myself
I am the good I want to see
Justice means refuse to do right
by evil
Moral means to strive for my life
Quick! Nobody's free while they die
I want to trade ideas—the good ones—
I want bad Gods burned for war crimes
When I stop struggling for power
I have it. When I stop praying for peace
I make it.
Photo by Natalie Sysko on Unsplash