It’s Better To Speak Than Not To Speak
By Richard Wells
After reading Robert Haas
I know these poems
won’t stop disasters
brewing or about to burst
It’s easy to write a litany
names of dying beasts
rail against plastics
and forever chemicals
or the latest rape
of a landscape
while the powerful practice
the homeopathy of violence
But it’s better to speak than not to speak
even if words won’t come
and breath pushes mourning
into the air
A fresh ear might catch
your ancient keening
another human being
may add vowels, consonants,
words and phrases to the outrage
causing another human being
to stand in front of tanks
or chain herself to a forest
It’s better to speak than not to speak
change will not come in silence.
Richard Wells, a lifelong writer, has also been a soldier, a chef, and a community organizer. His books, “Sideways through Zion,” and, “Yearning for Grace,” were published by the Embajadoras Press. Through the years his poetry has appeared in a number of on-line and print journals. He’s currently compiling his third collection.
Richard’s current work is posted at richardwells.substack.com.
Richard and his wife split their time between Seattle, WA, and Guanajuato, MX.