Human Rights
Man's rights. Men's rights. We are life
We are men. Respect the women
But have. Disturbing. Against men
Sexual harassment. Not all true.
Directed crime. Sexual harassment
We are men. A lot of us respect women
From riven ways and lent-for heaven’s vault
we clime on breath enwrit with slender ink,
each word a sworn avouchment ’gainst the dark,
each line a stout denial unto Lethe.
Hands erst in thrall do now the aether shape
with sigils forged of cinder, ash, and balm;
the orphan’s moan, the widow’s fervent cry,
lie twinn’d upon one consecrated leaf.
No tongue herein is beggared or despised—
the hush’d confession, clamant plea alike;
the scripture born of weal and wounded flesh
doth pace as peers in kingly even-stead.
We sing of marches loos’d from iron will,
of Right relearning how to quicken fair;
for Peace is not engender’d out of hush,
but sired by heedful ear to elder griefs.
This labour is no idle courtly sport,
nor dalliance of metre, wit, and breath—
it is a synod call’d by mortal hope,
where Mercy mounts the throne of trembling Fear.
Here, in these staves, the world recalls itself:
that Freedom waketh when all tales are weigh’d,
and Concord draweth first untroubled breath
when every soul long mute is bid to sing.
This is not a call to polish perfect rhymes
for quiet shelves in softly lighted rooms.
Take up your pen to map the fault lines,
where silent injustice shakes and booms.
Do not just sing of doves and olive trees,
but of the root that cracks the prison stone.
Write the plea that rides the stubborn breeze,
and turns a whispered truth to common tone.
For every ledger listing war's grim cost,
write one clear line that grief cannot erase.
Be the first, defiant green of frost,
the quiet anger shaping a kind face.
We are the scribes of heartbeats, not just years,
the gardeners of hope in fields of fears.
They kneel to other powers
we hesitate and fear the cost
to like a facebook friend
daring to speak out.
Laws grow and restrict
deny us free speech
our rights are strangled cries
on the vine of foreign might.
We head to the abyss
democracy is fading here
soon we will feel the rage
of fascist boots in our face.
Do we shrink ourselves
reduce the target we became
no keffiyeh or land rights badge
no words against abuse.
Once proud of standing out
there is disquiet in our hearts
will we be silenced next
our past, a crime in this new state.
Freedom, a stolen patent by the white man
Seen as a capitalistic venture,
Marketed towards those deemed ‘inferior’
Not seen as a right, but as a luxury
Tied with the ribbon of controlled hierarchy -
To keep black in a constant state of survival,
And the white in a state of insecure power -
Externally polished, but internally cracking
A systemic imbalance weakened by unease
Freedom a currency owned by the corrupt
Used to dictate societal roles -
A way to systemise racial control
A way to protect the weapon of inequality
Reducing the oppressed to desperation -
Of basic human rights
A sadistic trait of the oppressor -
Watching the loss of our dignity in order for our humanity
A history of embarrassment, forced onto our ancestors
All to distract from their inner battles of inferiority
A secret they won’t tell, they’ll decree it as impossible
Despite a history of targeted discrimination
Despite a lifetime of oppression
All because black people are everything, they will never be
Somewhere, a mother teaches her daughter
to carry water on her head without spilling-
balance, she says, is everything.
In another country, a different mother
teaches her son to carry his name
without flinching when strangers mispronounce it.
We are all learning to carry something.
The refugee carries a photograph,
edges soft from touching-
proof that home was real.
The prisoner carries tomorrow
in the calluses of his palms,
counting days like prayer beads.
What if peace is not the dove
but the earthworm, turning soil,
making everything fertile again?
What if justice is not the gavel' crack
but the quiet hand that helps a stranger stand?
We build monuments to freedom
while forgetting freedom is built
in the small spaces between us-
the breath before forgiveness,
the moment we choose to listen
instead of turning away.
So here is my offering:
not grand words carved in marble,
but this-the admission that I am still learning
to carry the weight of your name,
your story, your right to be here,
as carefully as you carry mine.
Destined a red rose, as her tired feet were that day
Day she stepped on the bus, she sat where she should
Should, upfront, where she belongs, so peacefully
Peacefully, with fortitude, seeking equality and justice.
Justice she never thought would come with such liberty
Liberty divinely shining, smiling eloquently, abundantly
Abundantly with God’s fortitude, her aching feet planted
Planted to move not, like a tree rooted beside still waters.
Waters of stillness in her soul, running deep, led by God
God leading her through the valley of the shadow of death
Death where the Lord is her Shepherd—she feared no evil
Evil, His rod and staff protect her with goodness and mercy.
Mercy, she shows all the days of her life compassionately
Compassionately, with reverence and love for humanity.
© Dr. Joseph S. Spence Sr., Ph.D. (Epulaeryu Master). All Rights Reserved. December 1, 2025.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—my noble brother of freedom and peace,
Peace and justice ringing from mountaintops like consecrated chapel bells,
Bells resounding high and low across the hilltops and the valleys below,
Below, where the meek and humble gathered to sow their seeds of faith.
Faith, small as a mustard seed, yet mighty enough to move great mountains—
Mountains of despair overturned through the pursuit of equality and justice for all,
All God’s created people, without exception, endowed with equal human rights,
Rights granted by the Creator to all humanity in our blessed pursuit of happiness.
Happiness and freedom flowing from God’s love into the heart of humanity—
Humanity awakened to equal justice, righteousness, dignity, and emancipation,
Emancipation and representation earnestly sought, courageously fought, and won,
Won through radiant visions of hope shedding luminescent light upon the weary.
Light filled with saving grace from above, restoring strength to the brokenhearted,
Blessings from the Creator—bestowed upon those fashioned for everlasting love.
© Dr. Joseph S. Spence Sr., Ph.D., Epulaeryu Master. All Rights Reserved. December 1, 2025.
Almond skin glistens with sheen of sweat.
Welted by whip lashes, marred, scarred.
Steady resolve not to cry.
Slave but in name only.
Eyes plead with heaven.
In agony,
dignity
one ups
pain.
Human rights, what a nice phrase
Permeates the mind in fanciful ways
Peace everywhere, what a sweet dream
Of ethics’ crop, it seems the cream
Equal we stand before the law
Yet some are taller, longer in the paw
Equality lives only in books
In the real world, some have better looks
Of human rights, some have a lot more
Based on yardsticks rotten to the core
Some preach for long on merits of peace
While wheels of war, they willingly grease
As the world burns in flames of war
Warmongers escape feathers and tar
The innocent pay for the wicked’s wrong
And thus is sung the human song
But wait, this is just the ugly part
To make life comely, man has the art
Many noble souls follow lofty goals
To improve life for human shoals
Be it by fighting for human rights
Freedom, justice for blacks and whites
Or bringing peace in war-ravaged zones
Or Healing the wounds and broken bones
To end injustice, they will do their best
Wherever it is, whether east or west
Truly human they always remain
Give meaning to life and ease the pain
In lands where silence used to reign,
Where voices cracked beneath the strain,
A whisper rosea gentle cry
For justice true and freedom high.
From broken streets and shattered dreams,
To fields that echo with the screams
Of those unheard, unseen, unknown,
A call for rights began to grow.
The right to live, to breathe, to be,
To walk this Earth with dignity.
To speak, to learn, to hope, to thrive
To live a life, not just survive.
No chains of colour, class, or name
Should bind a soul or feed the flame
Of hatred's grip or power's thirst
For all are equal at their birth.
A child in war, a mother’s tears,
A silent crowd that hides its fears.
The cost of peace is often steep,
But worth the mountain it must leap.
For peace is not just silence held—
It's hearts and hands that must be meld.
It’s justice served with open hearts,
And building bridges, not war carts.
It’s teachers teaching without fear,
And truth in every voice we hear.
It’s choosing love instead of hate,
And opening every locked gate.
Human rights, our sacred flame,
Are not a gift they bear no name.
They’re not reserved for just a few
Shhh! Can you hear the hunger’s moan,
Children hollow, left alone?
Silent streets where shadows yearn,
We burn, we burn, for you to learn.
Shhh! Feel the hands that grasp for air,
Empty bowls, and vacant stare.
Your quiet gaze lets chains remain,
We rise in fire to break the chain.
Shhh! Listen close, the walls will speak,
For every lost, for every weak.
The flames of truth cannot be tamed,
Our voices roar, though you’ve restrained.
Shhh! See the pain behind your door,
The hungry cries you can’t ignore.
If silence kills, then hear this plea,
We scream for justice, for you to see.
Shhh! Now feel the embers grow,
From broken streets, the fires show.
No longer whispers, we claim our turn,
Hear us, stand with us, we burn, we burn.
Shhh! The silenced rise, no longer still,
Our voices rise against your will.
For every life ignored, unseen,
We fight, we speak, for what has been.
I'm in the Pursuit of Peace;
Elohim my Father's release;
I have a right to live;
Humanity mainly takes not give;
I live because of God in Christ;
Fundamental choices our rights;
Regardless of my race, sex, nationality;
Basic formidable fundamentally;
Freedoms to have my own spot on Earth;
No man deems my worth;
Equally to everyone protected;
From unequivocal mistreatment;
No matter who you are,
We are all children of God
Good or bad, rich, poor choices;
Are to be pleasured diverse verses;
~
Direct choices, divine grace surely hails;
Human rights and pursuit of peace avails;
In trembling streets where silent voices plead,
We build our law on dignity — not fear.
Each soul, each breath, a claim to equal need,
Justice whispers soft for all to hear.
When rights stand firm against the tyrant’s reign,
We sow the seeds of trust in broken lands.
No longer bound by chains of grief and pain,
Peacemakers walk with open, healing hands.
In courts and councils, truth begins to bloom,
Where accountability finds its place.
Through shared respect, we clear away the gloom,
And give tomorrow’s dream a human face.
For lasting peace is more than quiet nights —
It lives in rights, in hope, in shared refrain.
When each life matters, wrongs we dare to right,
We forge a world where love prevails again.
Every voice deserves its echo,
every soul its breathing space.
No one born beneath the sun
should walk this world erased.
Freedom isn’t some luxury
locked behind a gilded gate,
it’s the air we’re meant to share,
the promise we create.
Hands may differ, hearts may too,
but dignity’s the common thread.
Without it towers crumble
and justice winds up dead.
So lift the torch, keep it bright,
let no one dim its steady glow.
Human rights belong to all,
not granted… simply owed.
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