Practicing Nonviolence

A writing I found in a Facebook memory today from Mar 22, 2017. I wrote it, "peaceably prompted from Dr Riggs' History and Practice of Nonviolence class." She gave us the option to write a poem for part of the exam..this is what came out:

But my cheek is red and sore

Burning and hurting

When is this turning going to be enough?

I stand still

I march quietly and on the sidewalk

I carry my sign

Even in the rain, I leave behind no wet, torn, pieces of my protest

I resist because it’s right

My skin is hard

Insults and micro-aggressions rolling off my bare back

The coat and shirt I gave, long gone

I can’t run anymore but you want me to walk

And this walking is more like trudging

Not one mile, but two

And both sides of this road are lined with those in need

Please

Can I

Will you

Do you have

And with no expectation of getting any of it back

Yes

Of Course

I will

I do

Because it’s right

If I could cry, I might

But my eyes don’t well up like they used to

Dry from this walk in the wilderness

My ears allow in on one side and out the other

The vitriolic banter that pervades all media outlets

My anger isn’t at you but at me

For my desire to let it slide this time

Yet I resist

My own temptation

Because it’s right

You make it hard

When you hit and you hurt

Deport

Ban my travel

Shoot to kill

Deny choices, education, opportunity

Belittle

It’s hard to know how to pray

What to pray

God help us both

Lest Our Voices Exclude

Because it’s right

One day I’ll be gone

And while I might never see the change

Someone, somewhere

Whose tears fall fast and hard

Whose skin is soft and supple

With ears that ring

And bodies that jump at blasts and bullhorns and bans

Whose cheek deserves nothing less than soft hands to hold it up

They will be here

And I owe them this pain

My discomfort

My struggle

My resistance

For no other reason than

It is right

© 2017 Raymond Walker III