We Will Not Be Silenced – John W. Leys

I will not be silent.
I will not be afraid.
I will not sacrifice myself again,
I will not turn the other cheek.

I will speak the truth
—not my truth, the truth—
Not all things are subjective,
Not all causes are just.

I do not want to fight,
But I swear on my sword
By a name I cannot recall,
I will not go gentle.

Never Again

I will not take the blame,
But I will accept responsibility,
Writing names in dust
Alongside Ozymandias, Babylon,
And all the rest.

I will not despair,
I will not disappear.

Though I walk the deep darkness
In the depths of death’s domain,
I fear no evil.

I am not alone.
I am not afraid.
I will not be silenced,
And I will not go gentle.

Never Again is Now

Photo by John W. Leys

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John W. Leys was born in Oceanside, Long Island in the late 1900s. Over the years he’s lived in New York City, Florida, Germany, Texas, and a few odd places in between. He studied religion at the University of South Florida and the Jewish Theological Seminary in NYC. He currently lives with a chihuahua, writes poetry, and talks to crows in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. His latest poetry collection, When the Banshee Howls and other poems, was published by Broken Wing Publishing in 2022. You can find John at: John W. Leys and on Linktree.