Speak Up Poem by courtney metcalf

I sat in silence a lot
People never listened when I talked
People never cared what I thought
Through that grew a soft spot for the underdogs
I really listen when people speak
They remind me a lot of me
Back when I was inspired to dream
Before people were encouraged to be
Mindless sheep
To be smart is not to be cool
They want you to be a fool
So they can use you, digging up more dirt than your grandma's gardening tools
Make fun of minds with content
Ignorant minds full of benevolence
When the truth hurts it's easiest to wanna forget
But that's not how change is made
Knowledge may hurt but it saves
Living in a world where realism is called negativity
So the intelligent fade
Gone away
Throw away all the bad energy
None of it, bad vibes: not allowed to be near me
How do you help the cries you refuse to hear
Break the binds that keep the trapped in fear
Help the world learn to love
Replace a bomb with a simple hug
Staying silent, fortifying the tyrant
That put us in the dirt so he could live above our self-created forefather's violence
But we have no choice
We speak with no voice
Oppressing the majority so it cooperates with your ploys
To overcome disaster
We have to think faster
Find your spirit in this dark
Remind it it matters
Give it some sound
It's gonna need to be loud
We'll become a society capable of once again being proud
Quit attacking the ones using their minds
And for the record, confidence isn't cockiness
Have some pride
It's okay to have an opinion
It's okay to openly discuss
You don't have to shadow your ideas
It's okay to speak up
It's fine if they disagree
It's fine if they don't care
Better than to have left everyone unaware
So many people have been told their concerns were unimportant
Later on the news we see unnecessary disappointment
A man named Morton spoke up in a meeting
Told NASA he didn't think they should launch under 53 degrees freezing
Said it would cause problems to the O-rings that would insight a fire
Lives could be lost
But the boss couldn't be bothered
He said that guy didn't know what he was talking about
January 28th, when the Challenger took flight
It only took 73 seconds for it to ignite
People didn't have to die but they're gone
Say what you think even when you're told you're wrong