I would have been –
     an Olympic medalist making my country proud;
     a doctor finding a pressing cure;
     an engineer building pioneering technology;
I would have been –
     a caring nurse supporting you in geriatry;
     a daring firefighter saving my community;
     a scientist discovering next source of energy;
     a passionate teacher shaping young minds
I would still be amongst my loving family and friends.
Only if you had –
     let me live,
     let me live so I could dream,
     let me live so I would achieve my dream.

You chose –
     securing your right to bear the metal,
     robbing my right to just live.
You and your conscience chose to –
     not act when it really mattered;
     remain silent and not voice;
     even deny the true cause.
You, your conscience, and your money choose –
     weapon over compassion;
     metal over petal;
     machine over people.

Effected have been many –
     devastated parents;
     grieving siblings;
     traumatized friends;
     broken families.
Do you hear their vehement cries?
Do you grasp their deep fears?
Cries, calls or concern; they converge,
an urge to please do something!
It’s a shame if their energies are wasted,
It’s a shame if they are-
     voices blaring into deaf ears;
     hands knocking on concrete walls

I’ll not be there with them in life,
I’ll not be holding their hands in protest,
But I’ll be there with them all along in spirit.
I’ll steer them,
I’ll urge them,
     to please vote;
     please vote-out the incapable,
     and vote-in the empathetic.

Them and I; we march firmly united,
in thoughts, in goal, and in spirit.
There was a reason I’m not with them,
that reason alone is a driving cause,
that reason alone trounces-
     your desire,
     your need,
     your right
     to own anything,
     that can only end life.

I would have gone back to be tucked in bed,
I would have gone back to hug my dad,
I would have gone to cook with mom,
I would have gone to read in calm,
I would have gone home.
I would have lived.
Only if you had let me live.

– a Voice.

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