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Bystanders and their complicity

Some men and their women

And the children they raise

Politicians and legislators and

Those who oppress us.

They would steal,

do steal

from mothers and fathers, along with the right to our tears.

The fruits of our labor,

 joy of our children,

wealth from our lands,

and the beauty of nature.

They capture our womanhood,

our essence.

Crushing our stories,

the promise of our words,

zest from our music,

and beauty of our color.

It is a heritage trampled.

For I have passed as white

although I am Mestiza, Hispanic and European,

descended in part from indigenous slaves in what has become the Southwest of these United States.

I fought for my country and yet, 

I still find myself fighting the fight of the oppressed.

I am not a bystander.

Photo curtesy: Sharon Robino-West; Image Description: A headshot of a woman in front of a beige background. She wears a brown leather jacket, has brown eyes and light brown hair. She is smiling.

Writer Bio:

Sharon is a USMC Veteran. She writes with the Nebraska Warrior Writers and the Writers Guild Initiative out of NYC. She has published a short story and several poems, as well as being published in the NE Warrior Writers anthology in 2021.

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