Audacity of Poetry

Dare To…. Dare to: Be you Speak up Stand up when standing isn’t so easy Behave when others are acting bad or up Stand up for the right things and ideals Be fair when fair is not around Be honest when others are cheating everyone else Dare to look them in the eye Say no when they want you to say yes when it is wrong Preserve justice when they pay you to spy on your neighbor for racist reasons Dare to advocate for those who are being taken advantage of When you know better Dare to tell the truth when you know they lie and see fraud all around you Knowing it is going to hurt millions or thousands or hundreds or tens Even one Dare to be a good neighbor So neighborhoods can become communities not hoods Dare to not go along with those who practice hate And tell you it is for your benefit even though you know it’s not true Dare to speak against those who wear white sheets or masks or hire agents to do their dirty work Dare to: Help others Help the children Stand up against abuse and stop saying not my problem Send them packing when the predators come into your community Or place of worship hiding like the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood Dare to break the silence when you see corporations sending the country Into hell and a hand basket Instead of getting yours and hiding from public view Dare to: Be strong Report crimes Teach those who go to school and trust that the teacher Is actually wanting to teach them Instead of just waiting for the three month vacation Dare to not engage in road rage while texting And try not to need surgery to remove the phone from your ear Or correct carpal tunnel from too much texting and twittering Dare to: Stop cheating all those you can On eBay Or on the internet saying you have a successful business Stop it There is no one going to give you 20 million dollars from some other country Because some fictitious person passed away Dare to: Be happy Stop complaining Stop shopping Enough with the shoes Enough with the blues Pills are not your friend Drugs are for slugs Not human beings Just say no Faster and greasier the food, lower the nutrition So fatter the burger bigger the ass Eating veggies isn’t a shame Dare to push for organic for all Not just those who can afford to Dare you to speak out against the US using the military to practice tyranny Against helpless countries By any meaningless lie necessary Help the Palestinians Or the Louisianans Don’t know Katrina victims Or the Cubans or Haitians Dare or is it too much dare for you to Dare to? But I dare you To just dare!