Don't Be Silent

I’m doing fine, you say.

How about your neighbors?

Are they fine, too?

Now is not the time to say nothing

when you see friends, family,

even those you don’t know,

suffer indignities

that no one should suffer,

losses that no one should bear

because of one man’s ego.

Speak up now.

Let the powerful know

that we see them,

and we know their goal is more power.

Let the vulnerable know

that we see them,

and that they can count on us

to stand beside them

when they are wronged.

Silence is obedience

to tyranny, and when tyranny

rises from its lair,

we cannot be silent.

--Sharon Edge Martin