“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings
endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides.
Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages
the tormentor, never the tormented.”
– Elie Wiesel, Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, December 10, 1986
By Mercy Haub
May 1st, 2018
I swore never to be silent.
Though there are always choices.
Hazardous decisions, hazardous competitions, and yes,
Even battles.
One side is dark, the other light, and every
Person is
Proud to be the light, for that’s where people place themselves, yet it’s all a point of
Opinion, for in war, all is
Smothered
In grey. Or red.
The only light side is if you choose to
Engage the war itself.
Only then are you in the right. This way, you silence will take
Flight, and
Left are those who will persevere, those who
Oppose good, and those who are silent. They, the quiet ones, create the most
Violence;
Every one of them who
Insist on
Sticking to their silence. They are
Negligent of their dangerous gravity, as the finger on their mouth turns to the tormentor’s sword.
Only those who are wise recognize
That fighting is painful, ignoring is dangerous, but silence, that is lethal.
How horrid is it that the majority of
All of humanity has endured the
Trial of the voice and lost
Everything just to keep their mouths shut.
Inside of every opposition is
The oppressor and the oppressed.
Inside of all of the oppressed is a
Solemn hope that someone will stand up for them
In the raging battle between them and their persecutor.
Never is the necessity to shatter the oppressor’s will to present pain greater than the
Desperate need to break the silence of the broken bystander.
If everyone
Found the courage
From deep inside the cavernous corners of their conscience to stand up for one another, most
Everyone who was abused would have been
Rescued and the border between hope and hopelessness, the silent, would be broken.
Even if there are still tormentors, those who
Never back down are the ones who
Cease
Evil in its tracks and carry on our duty as human beings to never stand by and be silent