I can’t even imagine.
The lives become numbers,
Out of sight, out of mind.
If we try hard enough
We can pretend
We can pretend that this is okay,
This is normal.
Necessary.
Eventually we believe it.
We convince ourselves that this
Is what’s best for us all.
What other choice do we have?
We tell ourselves that this
Is justice.
What else would we do?
Some try to shine a light
Put up a fight
Show some strange sliver of empathy
I’ve seen the look in a mothers eyes
Her son was a songwriter
Her son struggled with mental health
Her son was a prisoner
Her son is dead
We convince ourselves that this
Is what’s best for us all
What other choice do we have?
We tell ourselves that this
Is justice
What else would we do?
This is justice.
This just is.
We tell ourselves that
These people are criminals
These people are killers
These people are a threat
“Lock them away”, we cry
These people are homeless
These people are desperate
These people are addicts
These people are imprisoned
These people are victims of a vicious system
These people are dying
These people are dying
Beaten bodies
Bruised beginnings
Broken bones
Bloodied bandages
Breath
Breathe
“We can’t breathe”, they cry
Lock them away
Lock them away, Lock them away, Lock them away.
They ask for help, we give them hell
Can’t we see how wrong this is?
This racist, sexist system,
The discrimination that we take for granted?
When millions have their undeniable rights denied
You know something’s wrong
Except somehow we don’t know.
We don’t see.
Out of sight, out of mind
We convince ourselves that this
Is what’s best for us all.
What other choice do we have?
We tell ourselves that this
Is justice.
What else would we do?
But the question we should ask is:
How long can we go on like this?
How can more suffering fix anything?
Wake up.
Stand up.
Breathe.