Comfortable in Silence

Institutions are comfortable in silence ———

Despite how loudly they hear the cries,

Of the atrocities fed by their dollars,

Cries of souls under the rubble,

Of bare-handed children mining minerals,

Of parents cradling their dead,

Of elders who have witnessed this terror a thousand times,

Cries, mourning, suffering, death, and destruction,

Yet dare not lose hope in humanity,

Academia is comfortable in theory

————

Comfortable in reading about human atrocity after it’s played out,

In classrooms where the distance provided by time,

Shields them from their would-be complicity,

Refusing to act when history is writing itself right outside,

Uncomfortable when students miss class to join the sorts of movements praised

In cushy classrooms,

Clearly genocide conflicts with the syllabus,

Leaving less time to debate the politics of people’s humanity,

Students are told they don’t need to be loud about what’s happening,

But if you’re not loud now, then when will you be? 

Don't you see the dissonance? 

The cup of coffee you clasp in your hands, 

Is filled with blood,

Yet you gulp it down all the same,

As you lecture on the injustices that permeate our collective history,

Where did your wires become crossed?

It's not that you don't see the evidence of 

Colonialism and imperialism, 

Death and destruction,

Caused by greed that feeds capitalism,

Because by your own admission,

You have dedicated your life to its “study,”

You see the devastation of land and human beings,

The silencing of your colleagues, You are very well aware,

You just couldn’t be bothered to care,

If the people suffering are black, arab, or muslim,

You claim it to be your expertise,

There’s nothing you don’t know, 

And you are eager to impart all you’ve learned,

Connecting it back to the philosophies of dead old men,

Who stood to benefit from the ageless violence,

But when called to help liberate those people from their suffering, 

You have no interest, 

You don’t want to invest in the living,

You much prefer to read about it,

Once the dust has settled,

And all that’s left is theory.

Written~ December 10, 2023

Published~ February 12, 2024