Poem

I wrote this poem a few weeks ago in reaction and response to the recent news coverage of the LGBT suicides and to homophobia in general.

This is NOT an "It gets better" poem.

It IS a "WE CAN MAKE IT BETTER" poem.

It is called, "Will You Stand?"

So..
Will You Stand?


I can understand feeling so alone
that you would want to take life
and hold it in the palm of your hand
before chucking it into the wasteland

I can understand how everything can be so out of control
that the only thing remaining is breath - the breath of life
and yet life remains theirs
the fears that one day their worst dreams will come true
so that at least for now it is best to just take a step off the chair
exhaling
before the rope tightens
wound around silencing their voices

I can understand the stress to just keep on breathing
To remind yourself that not everything has a purpose
and not everyone understands
that the looks and comments don’t mean a thing
because labels only hold truth if you let them
and I long ago found the bounds that tied the words to me and I cut them

I can relate to those feelings of hate
Directed at me but not for me
for hate is just fear
and have I not said things that could create hate
just because I was afraid
so why should I let those fears bother me now

I have long felt the betrayal of silence
Just standing by while the hate continues to take
to the air wishing it would fly away
and not just south for the winter
Hate that comes down bursting like bombs
rippling out like water after a stone has been thrown
plunging down into the depths
The depths where the silence is heard but never broken
Where some days I want to scream at the top of my lungs but don’t
Because I can't or Because I won't

That defeating silence -Where the battle is lost before it’s begun
So Deafening - you wonder – if there was ever sound?
Or the rhythm of your heart - Beating
Where People, full of knowledge, remain voiceless, wordless, unspoken
And everyone’s lives remain Broken
because the line between what is and what could be has become a wall so tall
that try as you might you just can’t see at all

But it’s time now for this silence to start breaking
so Today I Stand and Speak Truth
so maybe one day our youth
will believe that
Life
Is Worth
Living

© November 2010