Can You Fight Voter Apathy?

Obviously for this, and every single election, we need to get out the vote. I address this plea especially to the young, to women, to the disenfranchised and to all the people who care about the rights we have fought so hard to have and preserve. 


A Voting Plea

We don't vote, they simply say
and in a whirl there is grey smoke rising up
I see costumed men dumping tea in Boston harbor
defying a mad King in their quest for independence.

We don't vote, they simply say
and then I envision very young men, some brothers,
dead on the fields strewn with fresh blood
who fought for the rights that all men be treated equally
in this very young country.

We don't vote, they simply say
and around a bend comes
long lines of women marching, placards pleading:
'votes for women!',  
some having endured beatings, jail for years, 
still marching, defiant yet persistent
 and hopeful.

We don't vote, they simply say
and before me appears a weary Rosa Parks
bravely and defiantly taking her seat
on the front of the bus, starting the
Montgomery March.

Mom [born the year Women's Voting Rights approved]
 and I urge you to vote 

We don't vote, they simply say

and I hear jubilant people, in foreign lands,
hands clapping, tears streaming down their faces,

voting for the first time in their lives.

"My feet are tired but my soul is rested."

We don't vote, they simply say 
with that remark negating 
our hard fought history for our ordinary citizen's
right to:
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

I stand watching in perplexity as the non voters

take their rights and their liberties and simply

turn on their phones
and walk into the closest Walmart.

Susan R. Grout  written in 2000 and revised in 2012 and revised in 2018

susansmagicfeather copyright 2012 Susan R. Grout all rights reserved