From the recording The Age Of The Witness
The Age Of The Witness
I remember the volunteers
the way they would raise their arms like
trees refusing to be felled
their hands splayed open and ready to help
ready to give a destiny to their bones
and a purpose to their sweat
as children
we sat at our desks and watched in quiet admiration
we witnessed them grease the gears of progress
with their own conviction
and from their labour was born a simple but necessary truth
the truth doesn’t wear make up
it’s not trying to be pretty
it is our own embarrassment
that is the blanket
we throw on top of the truth
thinking that if we can cover it up
it will somehow stop existing
the truth is something we prefer not to see or hear
because the truth is about us
and we are terrified to feel it
we believe it will be unbearably upsetting
to learn the truth
to be forced to live with it
like some terrible cell mate
on a stretch of life
with no possibility of parole
no hope
of ever escaping the truth
so we shout at each other
birthing an ocean of noise
in which we attempt to drown the truth
and in the moments when the world is still
when a hush falls over us like a morning frost
when it finally feels as though we are ready to speak the truth
we offer silence instead
so frightened of what we might say
that we lay down in our coffins
and we are buried with the truth
having never shared it with anyone
the truth is
we are sick of the lies
the evening news was the spoon they used
to feed us their poison
television poured sugar into our minds
and free thought decayed
like the teeth we once used to eat the rich
but through the red and blue candy coated
police light tinted
3D glasses they gave us
so we could stare endlessly
into the sweetness they were offering
we witnessed
we witnessed tumours of greed
blossom from behind their eyes
like dark and thickening cataracts
we witnessed a sickness of want
become a fever in their appetite
they fed a pointless hunger
so often
they slowly stopped tasting the blood on their tongues
if we turned the volume of our hearts to silent
and gave them everything
they would hate us for having died for them
because our sacrifice would only mean
we could no longer give them more
we have witnessed
can we please evolve now?
we have witnessed those who held their children
like grudges
passing on their prejudice
so that their bloodline
could carry their hate forward
we have witnessed fear
we hold onto it like a ticket for a train
that is moving full steam ahead
toward a bridge that remains unfinished
because we could not learn to work together
can we please evolve now?
can we please stop bearing witness to our inaction?
can we please stop waiting?
we have been waiting
for someone to step bravely into our future
and turn us into their past
waiting for the last witness among us
to cross the border into our next frontier
to demonstrate the simple but necessary truth
that the age of the witness is over
we need a volunteer.
– Shane.L.Koyczan