If We had not been Silent - Poem by Raymond A. Foss

For year upon year
for many ages, our leaders
presidents of both parties
all of them, failing to speak

If we had not been silent
the world’s superpower
would the people have had to rise up
would they have had to cry for their freedom

If we had not been silent
would they have lived in freedom
not becoming martyrs
would the war crimes tribunals
have crumbled into dust

History will judge
for those many years
when we remained silent
thinking about the present
not thinking about the others

Those people subjugated
so we could sleep soundly
far from the repression
blind to their suffering
half a world away

May 20, 2011
Speech May 19, 2011 by United States President Barack Obama
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/05/2011519145837856559.html
on the Arab Spring of 2011
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2011/mar/22/middle-east-protest-interactive-timeline
and how our country will chart a new course
holding up the people more
and not just focusing on our narrower
financial and strategic interests
&
March 17, 2011
UN Security Council approval of sanctions against Libya
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/03/17/libya.civil.war/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1
&
calling on President Obama and the world
to act in the Middle East, especially in Libya and Bahrain,
to stand with the people
yearning to breathe free
and not worrying about the results,
that it is always right to stand for basic human rights
&
on the transformations since the beginning of December -
all the protests in Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Syria,
Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Palestinian Territories, Djibouti, Mauritania, Senegal, etc.
and
especially the resignation of Hosni Mubarak
February 11, 2011
&
and the jubilance in Tahrir Square
versus the bloodshed in Bahrain and Libya, etc.
February 18, 2011
&
hearing claim by President Obama 2/15/2011
in a news conference that when history books tell it
we will be seen as being on the right side of history
in how the United States responded
&
Post on Twitter by Wael Ghonim
http://twitter.com/Ghonim
“Our Revolution was like Wikipedia”
http://twitter.com/Ghonim/status/37306340103688192
http://techpresident.com/blog-entry/ghonim-our-revolution-wikipedia
February 14, 2011
&
Post on Twitter by Wael Ghonim
http://twitter.com/Ghonim
“This is Revolution 2.0: No one was a hero because everyone was a hero.”
http://twitter.com/Ghonim/status/36708161440190464
February 13, 2011
and see
http://www.facebook.com/raymond.a.foss#!/notes/safiyah-fosua/a-prayer-for-the-people-of-egypt-february-3-2011/10150134548244274
A Prayer for the People of Egypt (February 3, 2011)
by Safiyah Fosua
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=719089081

All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage.
See all 11,820+ of my poems at Poetry Where You Live.