Silence - A Poem

First, they said they have come for the violent offenders

the presumed-aggressive infiltrators,

the drug peddlers and cartel

rapists and abusers

I did not speak out

because I had a right to safety

Then, they came for the asylum seekers

the legal entrants of countries

disrupted by the very bombs and bureaucracy

of my own

I did not speak out

because I was born here and not there

Then, they came for the families at the border

for the children in holding cells

and parents navigating courtrooms

I did not speak out

It was called policy, framed as law and order

Then, they came for the workers

Their heads bowed low in supplication

and still with gratitude

for nothing more than a chance at hope

I did not speak out

Why did I not speak out?

Then, they came for my community,

with databases and knock lists,

boots ready to kick down doors

to kidnap children off the streets

human rights simply a consideration

no longer a guarantee

I did not speak out

Why did I not speak out?

Then they came for her,

and the nation snapped to attention

spotlighting a reality already conscious to millions

futher compounded by his death and execuction in the street

a sacrificing of whiteness for the sake of another

And suddenly

I am speaking out

before silence can do its job

and there is no one left.

1.27.26