Poem written amid thoughts of John Steinbeck and Eric Hoffer

The declaration of independence was written by the dissident minds of the elite…
Dred Scott’s petition was written by the dissident mind of a man who was wrongly considered to be the lowest of the low…

Today’s dissident voices need to be raised
From the
Poorest the
Strongest the
Weakest and
Finally the educated
The self-educated
All with a “voice” need to be heard
For…”wherever there is a fight, so hungry people can eat…
Wherever there’s a cop beatin’ up a guy…”
Dissident voices need to heard
Dissident minds need to act
Dissident activists need to quietly serve wherever they are needed…

Paul Cech has been writing poetry since 1970. Several of his poems have been published as Saturday Poems in the Pittsburgh- Post Gazette and the Thomas Merton Center of Pittsburgh has published several of his poems in NewPeople. Read other articles by Paul.