As the River Nile runs red
And solidarity turns timelines blue
Mohamed, let me tell you, that you, matter.
You. Mohamad Mattar matter.
And They. All. Matter.
Inna lillahi wa Inna illayhi raji'un
How can I be silent
When there are people who may never sleep again
For when their eyes close
All they can see is terror
As smoke filled skies
Carry the wails
Of children having their innocence stolen
And then waved as a flag for the world to see
Children not yet old enough to even spell
The word revolution
The word uprising
The word rape
The word silence
More silent than the bodies that now pile the floor of the morgues
Those left out to rot because there is no more room left to properly store them
While countess more simply just disappear
Ghosts in the darkness
And how can one look past
As connection to an entire country is intentionally stiffled
A blackout much darker than the skin that they say has nothing to do with the simple fact that
They just don't give a damn about the people of Sudan
Or the fact that in their eyes,
Certain histories that are older and much more alive than a cold, Godless, empty, shrine of colonialism
are and always will be,
Worth less
Less attention
Less money
Less prayers
Less hashtags
But oh God, if there was ever a way to say it
you know I'd say
Mohammed, please
Please hear me now
You, Mohamed Mattar, you matter
They all matter
And now as the River Nile runs red
And solidarity turns timelines blue
Know that we see you
And I might not ever learn the names of all of the victims but know this:
I see you
And you are worth it
More of our attention
More of our money
More of our prayers
More of our hashtags
And one day soon, I will tell my little brother
Who is but a child, still too young
to comprehend the weight of the words revolution and uprising
I will tell him That we as individuals may not have the power to change the whole world
But that there will always be power in numbers
And that when we see injustice
No matter the victim,
It is, and always will be
OUR DUTY
To try and stop it
Physically,
Verbally,
And at the very least,
In our own hearts
And I will tell my little brother, who is but a child
Still too young to fully comprehend the weight of the words murder and martyr
That whether he is ready or not
We must be ready to protect all of our brother and sisters
That every inaction is inevitably an action
That silence can be deadly
And that to simply do nothing, is to let down ones own soul
And all of humanity in the process
6/13/19