Battle Call

Razor in hand, I shave away the looming gloom of yesterday

I stare at the headlines, seeing what they can't hope to say

Sorrows packed into neat, little gift boxes waiting to be unwrapped

Within these articles, within these words they're trapped

Morning cup of coffee alongside the daily supplement of tragedy

Witness to the crimes of the world ignored so effortlessly

Awaken those dormant hearts, lulled by the warmth of the flame

Shock them into action, own up to the apathy and shame

Whether it's the starving people here

Or the war-torn refugees there

Or the racism whispering on the street

Or the sexism haunting the road

Or the souls watching from inside, too afraid to come out

Or the ones whose spirits have been consumed by self-doubt

All issues fall together in the web of humanity

Problems only solvable through the work a single united society

Open those sealed windows, let in the forgotten cold

Let it all wash over you, let it make you old

Breathe it all in, let that freezing frost splinter your lungs

Remember the taste of bitterness on your tongue

Words only have the power which we choose to bestow

Embue them with meaning, let your fingers fall across them, learn of their every woe

Use these miseries as a chance to grow

All for the final goal

Of never letting them happen again

Kindle back the color in your graying world