Age of Intolerance

The Inquisition’s dead
In Western liberal minds,
Yet elsewhere people live in fear
Of being punished for their “crimes”

Not saying who they really love,
Or speaking things that they believe,
Or being who they really are,
Or even thinking differently

For them, the Inquisition lives
In families and friends alike;
In private and in public spaces,
It haunts their ever-fearful minds

Dishonor and disownment hang
About each fateful choice they make,
'Til suicide at last allows 
The lone escape from sanctioned hate

And so they dare not tell the truth
In this “Enlightened” age of ours
Where freedom's greeted by the noose
And heretics are tried and burned,
For simply being different.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2016

Poem

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Book: Diverse Voices: The Poetry of Human Rights and the Pursuit of Peace