The Low Road
~
What can they do
to you? Whatever they want.
...
They can do anything
you can't stop them
from doing. How can you stop
them? Alone, you can fight.
You can refuse. You can
take what revenge you can.
But they roll over you.
But two people fighting
back to back can cut through
a mob, a snake-dancing file
can break a cordon, an army
can meet an army.
Two people can keep each other
sane, can give support, conviction,
love, massage, hope, and sex.
Three people are a delegation,
a committee, a wedge.
With four,
you play bridge and start
an organization.
With six, you can
rent a whole house,
eat pie for dinner with no seconds,
and hold a fund-raising party.
A dozen make a demonstration.
A hundred can fill a hall.
A thousand have solidarity
and your own newsletter;
ten thousand, power and your own paper;
a hundred thousand, your own media;
ten million, your own country.
It goes on one at a time.
It starts when you care
to act. It starts when you do
it again after they said "No."
It starts when you say "We"
and know who you mean and
each day you mean one more.