(Repost From 2016)
In the spirit of peace,
Patrick Henry cried out:
“Give me liberty or give me death!”
In the [un]spirit of peace,
He was granted his “or” request.
How it is—wonders never seem to cease.
Where there is peace, there seems to be
No need for protest.
There’s no instant in this country’s history
Where it has peacefully gone into war; rather,
It has always waged war in the name of peace.
It is said that history can’t be changed—maybe
Repeated—emphatically teaching its lessons:
“Give me liberty or death!”
“Bang, so be it!”
“No justice; no peace.”
“Bang, so be it!”
So has it been in the history of protest:
Peaceful protest by the oppressed has always
Been responded to with “peaceful violence”
By the oppressors; indeed, nowhere in history
Has protestation between the oppressed
And the oppressors ever ended peacefully.
Today, when the angered oppressed come
Face to face with combat-ready oppressors,
Peaceful protest as a viable strategy, echoes
Patrick Henry’s cry of “…give me death!”