Silence Is Suicide

I wrote this poem after doing my final project for my Intro to Human Services class. It was on HIV/AIDS in the African American community. I was watching a video on youtube about the topic when the announcer said "For the African American community, not talking about AIDS, the silence would be suicide" I wrote the words "Silence" and "Suicide" down on a piece of paper and began writing it.

My words are like the bullets in the barrel of a gun
ready to go off at any moment
and my letters are like the billions of stars twinkling in the vast universe
beautiful, elegant, and bright
every thought that lights up my brain
is like millions of tiny circuits shooting
signals down to every appliance connected to it.

But what if those shiny bullets vanished
and the gun of my mouth failed to go off
my silence would be suicide
it would be the death of me
and those like me
those who are not afraid to speak up for the innocent victim
those who refuse to be a bystander

I am an advocate for those who can not speak
for those who live life not having
the courage to open their mouth
and those who have been taught
to shut up, stay silent, and to be afraid of the consequences

For them, their silence is suicide
every time they are told to keep quiet
pieces of their freedom die inside
they don't know what it's like to free their mind
they don't know what it's like to have every thing they've ever wanted
they don't know what it's like to smile or laugh or sigh

We are their advocates
We are the ones
who can freely express our thoughts without fearing for our lives
we are the ones
our feelings actually matter
we are the ones
who will never fully understand their pain unless we have lived it

No, it's not fair
that millions of children die every day from the hands of a sick human being
no, it's not fair
that millions of people die every day from a disease that can be prevented
no, it's not fair
that millions of my black men are locked up unfairly by a country that claims slavery is over

My words are like the bullets in the barrel of a gun
ready to go off at any moment
and my letters are like the billions of stars twinkling in the vast universe
beautiful, elegant, and bright
every thought that lights up my brains
is like millions of tiny circuits shooting
signals down to every appliance connected to it.

But what if those shiny bullets vanished
and the gun of my mouth failed to go off
my silence would be murder
I would have killed those who can not speak
those who live life not having the courage to open their mouth
those who have been taught to shut up, stay silent, and to be afraid of the consequences