595. The Soundless

Speech shouldn’t be a gun to the head.

Enforced conformity or social death.

For does not a life still exist,

As long as there is breath?

Silence is not insignificance,

Nor essentiality: of a word;

And a voice is no guarantee,

Of ever being heard.

K. Aldaya, 11/6/22

GIF 1: Actress Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven from Stranger Things; https://aminoapps.com/c/stranger-things/page/user/eleven/YjW6_VJPtWf6Q5PnldWQPMx7xEDERlj8dv7SR

GIF 2: Actress Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven from Stranger Things; https://aminoapps.com/c/stranger-things/page/blog/eleven/V0EL_2Wvi7u73BQNXQ2o4NYVlZ7ZDx1l12

594. Humans Silence Screams

Humans silence screams,

Yes, they refuse to hear.

They smother feelings with their hands,

And whisper, “No, not here!”.

Humans silence screams,

And leave voices estranged.

Severing all the connections,

‘Til the harm can’t be changed.

Humans silence screams,

And use without remorse.

They want the best without the worst,

And they get it by force.

Humans silence screams,

And exterminate choice.

For mutilated vocal cords,

Can not, then, bear a voice.

K. Aldaya, 10/19/22

Picture: From Vampire Diaries; https://tenor.com/view/choke-strangle-cant-breathe-gif-12216423

545. Social Division

You look down on those who think differently than you,

And judge and criticize them for being themselves too.

You say to them, “You better love me as I am!”,

And then turn around and say, “You’re wrong, and a sham!”.

Never recognizing the sham as you.

Part of being accepted is being accepting,

Of what you may feel is formidable and upsetting.

You don’t have to agree with everything others do,

But if you truly want freedom, you must grant it too;

For respect’s propagated by respecting.

You may tell me the sob story all humans have to tell.

You may tell me how you feel, and I will feel for you as well,

But don’t condemn me for not dying for you on your cross.

I’m not a God on earth, and have to carry my own cross,…

Along with my personal, all-consuming hell.

All pains are not equal, and life’s a tragedy.

So, why are we infighting? And why can’t we agree?

That life’s far too short, too difficult, and too cold,

To bicker endlessly as our bodies grow old.

You are not a social category.

I am you, and you are me…

The heart of humanity.

K. Aldaya, 6/10/21

Picture: By Yaniv Knobel on Unsplash; https://unsplash.com/photos/UvkIx6DMTMk

542. Collective Torment

Have you not yet heard?

There are no more exceptions.

There is only the rule.

A world of false expectations,

Where the discerning are labeled: ‘fool’,

And inquiry…Absurd!

Have you really not seen?

There are no individuals.

There are only collectives…

Born of social, hierarchical rules,

Where all allegedly ‘real’ victim-hood lives,

Above the law,…blood-soaked, yet clean…

…As individual victims mount.

K. Aldaya, 5/23/21

Picture: Photo of August Landmesser, 1936; https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/resistance-responses-collaboration/non-conformity/refusal-to-salute/