divisible silence

I stand for courage.
I am not ignorant of fear,
it is inevitable, but I will not be ruled by it.

I will not always agree with others, but I can still work with them.
I have learned when humans live together
there is the possibility of conflict 
but I want to learn ways to resolve it
by connecting with others who are different than myself.
​

I know real greatness is not found in a cave full of shadow puppets
where propaganda is confused as truth; 
peace will not come by boarding off ourselves or our enemies.

I know when we fail to acknowledge the other as human,
we are deaf to their voice
and to their rights.

I know our world is facing immense climate change
and therefore must mature beyond scapegoating;
scapegoating wastes energy and reveals a complete ignorance
of historical and present-day atrocities.

I have visited a place where, upon walking through the gates,
felt “evil happened here” and wept.

I want to live in a world
​that will never again 
stand silent.