We’re never there

Published on by Laura Bloomsbury 
we are the ones you'll never find
in protest lines of angry hordes
with petrol bombs and catapults
the ones that overturn your car
who raid and strip our local stores 
and set up ghettos of one thought

we're the ones you never see
the buttoned-up majority
who never seek to find offence
or shout about their sufferance

we are the ones who melt away
we are the ones who pray
for peace and practice that belief
though outrage burns as lividly
at senselessness, stupidity
that you have brought to bear 
- and still, we're never there!

For Bjorn’s MTB prompt “Writing from a collective point of view” we are employing the first person plural to speak as or of a group

44 thoughts on “We’re never there”

  1. This is what I have always disliked by those loud protest. Even if I sympatize with the cause, those violent reaction makes me turn away. It is a pity how much a cause can be destroyed

  2. The collective silence is deafening from the majority but how else can we be heard if we are silent. I believe we have to weigh and decide when we can be silent, and when we should not be.
    Love the verses that speak to many of us (and me) Laura. This hit me as I have lived my protest and silent years.

    1. It is difficult to mount a protest as counter protest when the other is so violent but thank you for the points you make as that is what I’ve tried to imply from the title and repeats

  3. Yes, I’m one of those who
    ‘… who melt away
    we are the ones who pray
    for peace and practice that belief
    though outrage burns as lividly
    at senselessness, stupidity
    that you have brought to bear’.
    I just can’t cope with shouting and violence.

  5. This is incredibly powerful writing here, Laura! I especially resonate with; “We are the ones who melt away/we are the ones who pray/for peace and practice that belief/though outrage burns as lividly at senselessness.” Yes! 💜💜💜

  6. I think there is another choice rather than simply disappearing and melting away and praying. Many times the violent protests are the frustrations boiling over because others have not paid attention and melted away, ignoring the problems, the fact that the status quo is too painful to live with. Too often, when the violence is quelled, the protestors are jailed or disbanded (and many times that is done in a violent way) and no actions are taken to discover or address the root of the problems. It took until George Floyd for many in this country and abroad to really do something to affect change. It took the march in Selma and violence wrought upon protestors for something to change. You’ve written about a very powerful and important issue.

    1. Thanks Lillian protesting against violence with violence is counterintuitive especially when it spreads out into a firestorm that has no true connection with the original

  7. Laura, the violent mobs speak another kind of message than what they might want to get across and seems to be the least effective. The kind of protests that are most effective to me are the visual, non-violent kind, like a field of crosses where each cross represents one life lost to domestic violence, or a “die-in” where people lay down en masse and play dead in front of a chemical company like Dow or Monsanto that poisons the planet. Either participating directly or making sure to share the images with others can be very effective. Boycotting is a huge way to protest non-violently, but effectively.

  8. That last line is pointing a finger. But to be in the fray of mayhem isn’t for everyone. We don’t only melt away, we deliberately choose to find a different route to bring about change.

  11. The violence drowns out the possibility for substantial change. Real change is hard work–and it takes time. (K)

  13. Ah, yes. And I have taken the other view in mine, what a lovely surprise to see your poem and though I wrote what I wrote I hold yours closely too.

    1. I must take a look at yours when internet is properly up and running after flooding has damaged the lines here so thank you for your appreciation

  15. Interesting poem and must say I am not one for the violent protests but peaceful ones…yes. Have been involved in some peaceful protests and found it energising to be with like-minded people united in a cause. Although I have also found that there is a groundswell of violence online which certainly aims to drown out other people’s freedom of speech which is concerning.

  16. I have been trying for years to reach a coherent historical understanding of Palestine/Israel but this week, I have moved to thinking that poetry speaks louder across the divide and your poem is up there…
    I have never been an activist in the sense of going on a protest peaceful or violent (which I agree with you is counterintuitive) but my attempts at disambiguation have, I hope, helped a few people towards clarity, but I went, with some trepidation, knowing there would be a lot of Jewish attendees, into a Zoom meeting response to the atrocities by the Amherst Writers Association called What Presses on Our Hearts. The AWA method kept us all safe and able to express creatively, our distress and thoughts. I know that historic understanding has its place and perhaps even primacy, but as poets, we can be there and we should be there…

    1. Thank you for such positive feedback though I have to disagree as in my opinion most political topics are too sensitive or divisive an issue to relegate to rhyme or it’s equivalent and as for the subject you mentioned I dare not touch that as I’m too subjective since my sister lives there!

  17. You’ve spoken the thoughts of the silent majority indeed, Laura, and the collective voice you’ve chosen reflects the quiet brilliance and quality of thought brought to bear on the issue of the violent and the obnoxious, the totalitarian instincts of a minority that tears down what others have in peace sought to create as a haven for the many. I’m in awe of the poetry which never descends into a screed.

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