A Sign Is Just A Start by Joseph Powell

A Sign Is Just A Start

I see your sign--
Yes,
I see you,
marching on tired feet,
filling the streets,
raising your voices,
singing,
shouting;
yes,
I see you;
we all
see you.
But,
at the end of the day,
when the sun has gone down
and the singing stops;
and the tired feet
have marched
all the way home;
and the signs are put away
in garages
and closets
filled to overflowing--
what then?

I ask,
what is
your takeaway?
what is
my takeaway?
Mothers
are still losing sons;
sons
are still losing fathers;
women
are still going missing;
men
are still going to prison.
Laws
are being broken,
by those
who make them
and swore
to uphold them;
the rich
still do not care
about the poor;
the poor
still see no relief.

Yes,
a sign is just a start,
but
I know teachers
who are having to take
second and third jobs
just to make ends meet;
I see roads and bridges
crumbling all around us
and we’re talking about
paying for a wall
that may or may not
protect us.

A sign is just a start,
but I have friends
who are getting sicker
because we still
are arguing about healthcare.

And who are we
to think
that we are better
than someone
who doesn’t look like us,
or believe what we believe,
or love…
who made us
the arbiters of love?!

One man
or woman,
no matter how powerful
in stature
or wealth
is going to make
a lick of difference
if we, the people
choose not
to come out
from under our signs
and from behind our masks
and see each other,
not as
the “other”,
but as
the other side of
who we are.
We, the people,
all the people,
have to decide
to become better
than what we are,
what we’ve been.

A sign is just a start,
along with your marches,
your singing and
your shouting;
but,
at the end of the day,
I want
to see you,
all of you,
all of US,
getting to work.
A sign
is just a start.
A sign
is just a start.
A sign
is
just
a
start.
So,
let’s get started!

© 2017 Joseph Powell