Protest

I will disagree, but gently.
There is no need to push
Dialogue until enemies are created
Out of old friends or strangers.

Yet if I meet with intransigence
Must I leave my disagreement unspoken?
Or if said, not carried to clarity,
Allowing others to guess as to the depth of my conviction?

Must I allow a right to go unprotected,
Accept a subservient position for want of confrontation?
Or bring less then my full compliment of alternatives
To a battle worth fighting?

15 people walked.
They held signs demanding union contracts.
Every year since I’ve lived here this happens.
Workers chant slogans for 8 hours, then go home.

I’m not sure it is effective.
Hotel guests aren’t especially disturbed,
Although a few late sleepers
Might not care for the 8 AM wake-up.

I recall the women’s march on Washington.
One million women came,
Voiced their concerns
And went home.

Members of congress congratulated the ladies,
Noting that the women were not unruly,
Presented their protests and petitions
And hoped that Barbara would soften the President’s position.

A sad commonality joins these protests.
If the goals were modest
And the means exemplary,
Failure was the result.

If the means must justify the means
Both protest cohorts were well satisfied.
Weather cooperated and inconveniences
Held to a minimum.

What of inconvenience?
Would Martin or Gandhi approve?
If the issue you profess matters
Then self congratulations is not the goal.

Your position must matter to the opposition
Who must care, made to see your arguments existence
Feel the possibility of loss,
And their weather turning cold and stormy.