They Have Always Murdered Poets by Richard Pierce

They Have Always Murdered Poets

The oppressors have always murdered poets.
They fear the truth, and silence mouths so
No-one can hear it.

It is not murder limited to one country, one
Cause. It is universal murder. It started long
Before Socrates was made to swallow his cup
Of hemlock,

Long before words were written and read.
Storytellers were always vulnerable for the
Universal truths they told which challenged
Authority and popular beliefs. Sagas and
Legends always told of good trumping
Evil.

This is why evil regimes tear the tongues
From poets and philosophers, from dreamers
And visionaries, from realists and activists,
To try to decapitate resistance.