How Do I Change Their Mind's Poem by James McLain

How do I change their minds, dear world,
When hearts are steel and locked away,
When anger, like a storm unfurled,
Drowns all the gentle words I say?

The sun and moon, they speak no lies,
Their light remains despite the dark;
The stars look down with silent sighs,
While oceans rise in whispered arc.

They speak of love, of softer things,
Of kindness born in ancient tides,
Of how compassion gently brings
The waves to pull, then softly bide.

Oh, laws are carved like stone in sand,
Yet tides will wear their will away;
I stand alone with empty hand,
Lost in the currents of the day.
If they would only feel the stars
Their fire, their shimmer in the deep—
They'd see beyond the iron bars
And find the places lost in sleep.

But I am small beneath their laws,
Helplessly lost, yet still I fight,
Believing waves have gentler claws,
That love might outlast even night.