PROTEST POEM: Round The Public Square

Theirs
Smoked filled plays
Behind closed doors
Where there is no room
In the halls of power
Fore the wrest of us
Relegated to copping democracy
Round the public square

This protest poem deals with the reality that lack of transparency and accountability in government obliges citizens to apply political pressure through protests, demonstrations, and nonviolent civil disobedience. Sometimes justice demands circling city hall and other halls of power for around whole to fit in a public square. I am particularly proud of the “copping democracy” phrase subject to double meaning. Law enforcement is often poorly trained and cops bad attitudes toward nonviolent citizens exercising their first amendment rights and petitioning for redress of grievances. Judges and courts are often poorly equipped and acculturated to treating nonviolent protesters as more than common criminals. Our criminal justice system exacts a disproportionately high cost upon conscientious citizen protesters actively working to right wrongs in our government and communities. This disproportionately high cost on highly politically engaged activists stymies the vitality of our democracy and reinforces systemic injustices. May we learn to value the vital role protest and resistance play in actualizing a vital democracy.