Vote For Change: A Poem by Christopher D. Sims

If you are an activist; someone fighting for change;
a mother who can barely afford to pay the rent;

if the political process is moving too slow for you;
if your emails are not being responded to or if
your phone calls are not being returned

and you start feeling burned, then what are your options,
who is really in your corner?

We were hoping
the revolution
started years ago,
that hope was
reachable, tangible

during the Obama
administration,
that this nation
would somehow

turn around and
welcome us into

the wordings of
its Constitution

But during the protests, the marches,
the many vigils we have learned that
these freedoms we have been fighting for
are only illusions

until we finally find politicians and parties
that honor the humanity of the poor,
Black and Brown children, and union workers

who are finding their savings depleting fast!

Who in this city is listening to our blues songs?
What local platforms will take our stories,
then turn them into recorded audio collages
that inspire everyone who attempts to
represent us to bare the truths of their souls
and guide us

in new directions?

When will elections ever not be a fight for
underrepresented people to finally be heard?

What if
Every vote
casted was
connected to
the monetary
lines of City Hall,
Winnebago County,
and the State of Illinois
and after each time our
political representatives
failed to listen to us,

we received compensation
for each disappointment?

Then would those same politicians join
in on a collective crusade to carry the
wishes of the people until we were all
equal?

I am hoping to sound off the common concerns
of the average citizen; put a mic to the mouth
of every day sufferers who are sitting down after
working two jobs

Isn't that a poet's job?!

I hope
You vote
With
conviction

I hope
Everyone
you encourage

To vote
Listens to
their hearts
or looks into

the eyes of
a needy youth;
a worried postal
worker, the teacher
at school hoping
he doesn't get
COVID

then turns
these dire
situations

Into action
at the voting

booth!

Your vote
Will be proof

that change
can actually

come to serve

you and all
of the things
you see

that is hurting our
community.

Copyright Christopher D. Sims
October 17th, 2020