They say the meek
will someday
inherit the earth

until then,
we will speak
for those
whose outrage
made their voices
tired and weak
and we will speak
with words
in shouts and cries,
in poetry
in riddles
and in rhymes
and we will speak
in subtleties
for our brothers
our sisters
for our fathers
our mothers
and our children
for the meek
who were never freed

we will speak
straightforwardly
and we will say it
any way that it takes
we could say
who wants the earth
anyway
it’s a mess
let the meek
inherit it
everything
has gone awry
and there will
never be justice
until we die
we could say
let’s just wait
for some
maybe heaven
or some
maybe someday
that may
never come

we could say
we have
a better place
to be
the earth
is ruined anyway
but we will speak
and we will ask
the question why
we let injustice lie
and remain allowed
to be ignored
and unseen
and we will speak
for our brothers
our sisters
for our fathers
our mothers
and our children
who were never freed

we will speak

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Author: Michele Collier

Editor: Catherine Monkman

Photo: Kheel Center/Flickr