Our Voice Has A Say

A few months ago we moved onto doing poetry. Normally, when I hear the word ‘poetry’ I would think to myself “not this again!” However, this time, I was very excited to learn about Romantic Poetry. Now, I know what you’re thinking and just to clarify, Romantic Poetry isn’t about being all lovey-dovey aka romance, it is about childhood, freedom, rebellion, nature and lots more!

And this got me thinking. Why don’t I write a poem? It doesn’t have to make sense. It has to make sense to me. There is not any right or wrong to it.

So, I came up with this.

Our voice has a say

But there are things that we must obey

There are rules that we must follow

And these are not the ones to be forgotten tomorrow.

It is to keep things in order

And not to wander

We respect that.

However, people disobey the rules

Even though they know that they are acting like fools.

To which there are consequences to

We respect that.

Our voice has a say,

But the young and innocent are being preyed

By the sinister plot and the web of lies

Which could cost many lies

As those innocents have something to say

They end up being shut like a suitcase and chucked into the hay.

They try to speak but can’t be heard

For everything we say would sound absurd

And then there will be consequences.

Our voice has a say

Yet they still tell us, even today

That we will listen to you

But how can we talk, with you being rude

And the fear you have installed in us

Which is why we are quiet – that is a must.

Our voice has a say

And we will deal with it our way

We tell no one and suffer in silence

With anger, guilt and regret filled inside us

This is when our friends’ step into the game

They say that “it’s okay” and they’ve suffered the same

And there are only people to blame

It’s the ones who don’t listen to us

And for that you are losing our trust.

Our voice has a say

And it will not betray

We will speak out and fight

After all, it is our right

Consequence us as much as you like

But you won’t be able to stop us tonight or never

Because the truth will come out and we won’t delay

After all, our voice has a say.

Now, I know what you may be thinking – how can a voice have a say? Well, the main idea of this poem is to speak out and stand up for what is right. This is one of the “trigger events” that made me write poems because I saw someone get told off, for no reason and that person could not do anything about it as arguing back could receive a consequence. But if one has not done anything to receive that – why are we so scared to speak up and clear our names?

They claim that they are shaping us and preparing us for bigger world but to me, it seems like they are breaking us. Telling us to be silent and not talk back, which I understand to a certain extent, but there is a limit to it. If you have been accused of something you have not done will  you stand up for yourself?

Obviously in this case with that person, it is best to be silent but why are we afraid to speak back? Just because they may be older than us and more experienced doesn’t mean that they can say anything to us and we will tolerate it. We speak the truth, they don’t like it so they give us consequences – is this fair?

I may be wrong, or I may be thinking this differently. I admit, there are rules for a reason, for those who do mess around and misbehave for which I understand, but what about those who are/were wronged? Those who got told off and have received consequences for no reason as they haven’t done anything.

It may be that the person who them told off may be in a bad mood, or has a lot of things going on in their mind at that moment. And maybe, just for that split second, they vented it out by telling that person off. But they won’t say sorry as they think it is right what they are doing. Or they won’t say sorry because they are superior to us and saying that one word would bring them down.

If we do this, if we are having a bad day and we vent our anger out at someone superior (for no intended reason, it just happened), we would be expected to leave the room, calm down, and when we come back, we are expected to say sorry. If we can do it, why can’t they?

This is just my view and the context behind the poem I wrote Our Voice Has A Say. Read the poem again. What does this poem make you think of? How would you feel if you got shouted at and told off for no intended reason and you did nothing wrong? Is it right for those to intimidate us with their power and keep us silent?

Thank you for reading!