The Possibility of Heroes

 

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All of us righteous US citizens
go about our lives like birds in a tree
when not commenting on the immanent death
of democracy.  We who ask(ed)
Israelis to stand up against destroying Gaza;
we who judged German citizens
for standing by and letting genocide happen—
 
What are we doing now that clueless oligarchs
destroy the rights we US citizens
built slowly over the years?  And sentence
people to death by neglect?  We twitter
in our trees, those of us with little to lose
other than our community, our humanity,
our integrity, our safety, our authority,
our youngest looking out from their nests
and watching us to learn how to fly.
 
The trees whisper, let us calm you,
lovely birds, you who, like us,
have so much to lose.  Let us calm you.
Come home to rest and then go out again. 
Be heroes: do not stop until you have saved something,
stood up for something, and grown
weary in the fight.  Trees will shelter birds
as long as they can.  Will stand up with us
as we stand for them, remembering
that they too, have much to lose.
And we are not birds, but humans.

 

For Mary's prompt "Heroes" at What's Going On? 

(With apologies to birds and trees.)

My blog poems are rough drafts.

Please respect my copyright.

© 2025 Susan L. Chast