No science nor religion
Do not speak of politics
You are causing more division
Do not tell them what you think
Just wait until we reach
The brink of our destruction
With nowhere else to turn
No more time left to learn
Quiet, watch the pages burn.
They will hate you if you speak
Call you fearful or insane
No one else will care to hear it
Keep it to yourself instead
You will not gain fame nor honor
You pass friendless with the poor
Into the darkness where you wander
‘Til the Real can take its toll.
It burns so deep inside you
This Truth you must endure
No matter who it is derides you
The urgent voice within your soul
You will take it as your own
Responsibility unspoken
One that you so plainly know.
A prophet unconsidered
Your words soon fade forgotten
Dependent on re-telling
A message never welcome
You knew that few would listen
Isolated and alone.
The path that you must follow
If you can follow one at all
Not the one you would have chosen
Who would want this burning call
To wake the sleeping and the dead?
“I do not wish to be awakened
Leave me alone and let me sleep
I’m enthralled with what I’m dreaming
I see all I want to see!”
Why bear this constant trouble
Why wage this endless war
Is this just an empty symbol, nothing more?
Compelled to speak
Condemned to silence
Break the silence with your Sword.
This is a new poem structure (at least that I know of) and an odd one at that. I used it to signal the way a prophetic (or protesting) message might struggle to be spoken and then fade, only to be re-spoken until it is heard as the Sword of Truth.
The structure is (9 lines, then 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 final)
Copyright © 2022, Robert G. Metivier. All Rights Reserved.
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Thank you for taking the time to read!
#protest, prophet, social justice
Our art forms are our swords. Very powerful and much needed.