Inertia of Ignorance

I am a warrior, a warrior for peace

A warrior for a better life

A warrior for a little food and a little shelter

A warrior for social justice

For utter dignity

For the man on the street,

Battling with my pen

On my white coarse canvass

Against war, poverty

And the powers that be.

But there’s much more war and poverty

Than warriors dishing out poetry

To counter the oppression

To create much of an impression.

The canvass doesn’t reach its audience.

And we need more canvasses

And many more warriors brandishing pens.

So shake off this inertia of ignorance

My fellow warriors, and hand each other those pens

So that we can march against the enemy

And force its eyes on the harsh reality of our canvasses

So that our children don’t need to fight

Tomorrow for everybody’s rights,

So that the overall darkness is less than the light.

And the sounds of laughter drown the silence

That haunts us today.

4/24/06