A Call for Compassion

Prompt: Speaking to a million people

Photo by Mark Tulin

If I spoke to a million people,
I’d talk about those who are hungry —
poor people wearing rags,
children with bloated bellies,
and families too powerless to ask for help

Many deserve a voice
who work two and three jobs,
struggle twice as hard
and reap fewer rewards

There are people down below
who walk up steep hills,
bearing heavy loads,
and carrying unwieldy crosses
with no sympathy

People deserve an equal share,
to be heard by those in power —
the privileged few
who could decide the fate of many

If I were at the mic,
talking to a million attentive ears,
I would champion the weak,
awaken the strong, show solidarity,
and have the best choir in the world
singing “This Land Is Your Land”