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believe me

if I lie, will you believe me?
what if I don't, will you believe me?
what must I do for you to believe me?
what must I say for you to believe me?

what do you believe?
what you see or what you don't
what you hear or what you don't
what you know or what you don't
what you feel or what you push away 

will you remember?
and if you do, what will you believe?

what will you do?
will you forgive or will you forget
will you hold on in anguish, in disarray
or will you stand still and tell your story
will you take arms and fire
or will you throw a bouquet of flowers
will you watch children cry and mothers bleed
or will you look away and point your finger
at amputated fathers, brothers, and sisters
who no longer believe

how will you do it?
peacefully with carefully measured words
or aimlessly with swords and guns
and weapons as everyone watches
some in horror
some in delight
some in sorrow
some in vindication
some clinging to allegiances
some to age old bonds
some to stories told long ago
some to sound bites that penetrate their soul

how will you do it?
carefree with lies neatly folded and covered
with no accountability for your actions
as you strip the world of its innocence
all in the name of your forefathers
your faith
your history
not mine, yours you say... yours, not mine
this divide, imaginary lines
as you raze your forged enemies
your brothers and sisters who once were

what will you say?
I am right and you are wrong
you lie and I don't
this land is mine and not yours
I was here first, not you

look around
it's history calling out to you
do something
do anything
do nothing

you have nothing left... anymore
give peace a voice
let it speak
listen, just listen

how naive you say
you are children, living in fairytale
teaching little ones in classrooms and playgrounds to share
yet all you do is shamefully take and take
for what?

sit down
say nothing
do nothing
just smile
look at each other
really look and see what you've done
share what is left before it's all gone

this is the way...
this is the way...
this is the way...

does it even matter?

Copyright © Mars Hollaway

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