Losing One’s Voice

After all the years of struggle
To find the power in one’s voice
A sincere and brutal point of view
To lay it down and make a choice

To tell it like you see it
Without concession or restraint
To reveal the way things are
To expose the things that ain’t

There are people who empower
A dissenting point of view
To say and do the things
No one else will say or do

A voice without a platform
Is like an echo in the night
Like a song without a singer
Or a seer without sight

We have lost a great ally
The one who let us sing
We sorrow for her loved ones
May her winter turn to spring

(for Angie Tibbs of Dissident Voice)

Jack Random is the author of Ghost Dance Insurrection (Dry Bones Press) the Jazzman Chronicles, Volumes I and II (City Lights Books). The Chronicles have been published by Dissident Voice and others. Read other articles by Jack, or visit Jack's website.