"They told me to fight for my rights."
by Alan Nicoll
Copyright 2003 by Alan Nicoll, All Rights Reserved
They told me to fight for my rights. I told them they had to fight, too. They told me it was my problem. I told them it was everyone's problem. They told me they were too busy. I told them that this was worth fighting for, and they knew it. They told me they didn't care, it would go away by itself. I told them they were wrong.
They told me it was too complicated, they didn't know what to do. I told them it was simple. They told me they were afraid.
Ah, now we're getting somewhere, I told them. I told them to have courage, to be men. They told me they had courage. I told them we had to fight for our rights. They said yes! I told them the time for action was now. They said yes! I told them to get guns. They said yes! I told them to kill the evil ones. They said yes! we will kill the evil ones! I said Let's go. They ran and got guns. They killed the evil ones. They killed many evil ones. They killed and killed, and some who were killed were not evil. Soon the evil ones were gone, but the killing continued. Many who were innocent were killed. Women were killed. Old people were killed. Children were killed. Babies were killed.
Now they're coming for me.