We received this poem from one of the educators at Rolfe Middle School that shared how Ms. Lucas’ actions have given her strength to stand up and speak out herself. We thought that it was powerful and wonder if Armstrong, Rokenbrod, Ellis, Morton, Royal, and Jepson even have a clue of where she is coming from. We are assuming that they don’t, so we are dedicating this poem to them.
Was I To Remain Silent
Was I to remain silent?
Was I to close my eyes?
Was I to keep my mouth closed?
Was I to cover up my ears?
Was I to look the other way?
No!, my pure soul would not give me peace,
No!, my soaring spirit would become heavy laden,
No!, my logical mind could not justify it,
No!, my passionate heart could not dismiss it,
I see the empty souls of our children daily, waiting to be filled with our compassion and caring,
I see the hardened hearts of our children daily, longing to be melted by the discipline and direction of one that loves them enough,
I see the fear in their eyes daily, because school is no longer a safe place for them,
I hear the anger in their voices daily, because we have betrayed their trust by choosing to be their friends instead of their guides,
I see, I hear, I know…so I fight! You don’t see or hear, so you do not fight…you do not love enough to fight for them,
I fight for the return of their innocense so that they can be children, free to love, free to learn, free to live!
I fight for the return of their lives so they can see without anger, breath without fear, walk without insecurity!
I fight for them, I tell others to fight for THEM, not our jobs, not our positions, not our school, not our principal, not our reputation, but to fight for THEM….OUR children.
The adults around me have not had the revelation…the one that shows you that fighting for our children is sometimes not the same as fighting for a school, principal, or your job.
If you can remain silent and not feel a pain in your heart for our children because of your silence then move the hell out of the way because you do not deserve them.
Sometimes, they are on opposing sides, but you have to be strong enough, wise enough, bold enough, honest enough, and love our children enough to put all else aside for them.
I can no longer remain silent because if I do, if you do, if we do, OUR CHILDREN DIE!
