I Too Have A Voice

I refuse to just stand by.

I refuse to sit and watch as tears

Fill our rivers until they’re bursting at the seams.

I refuse to listen to the screams of the people’s agony

Because that’s not the melody I want to hear.

I refuse to watch the rubber bullets and the tear gas

Pierce not through skin but souls.

I refuse to believe that this is the issue of a few

When what we fight for is no less than hope.

I refuse to let bygones be bygones because that built

The monster that's threatening to swallow our country whole.

I refuse to open a news channel to see another

Precious life stolen masked as an accident.

I refuse to scorn those who stand up for the rights

That so many of us believe are like the clothes on our back.

I refuse to be divided into colors

Because we all bleed the same shade.

I refuse to shut my eyes when the fear creeps into our hearts

For our struggles are what build our stories.

I refuse to stay silent in voice and soul

When my responsibility would shame me if I act any other.

I refuse to weep in anguish over the injustice

Because my words are worth more than my tears.

I refuse to plug my ears when the pleadings become unbearable

When our nation just needs someone to listen.

I refuse to watch while the home of the free and the brave steals the oxygen

Of the huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

I refuse to be just another shadow on this Earth

When I know I can be the light.

I refuse.

I refuse.

I refuse.