Bullet

There are so many amazing writers and poets in this community. Your voices and stories astound me. I do not consider myself a writer, I'm proficiently lazy on craft, but I love telling tales.

                                     Bullet 

                                    By

                                  Carlos Lorenzo Estrada 

I change the world.

I have no voice...I silence them.

A great man once said, "Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves."

April 15, 1865.  A country wept, the world changed, and I silenced his voice.

A great man once said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

January 30, 1948.  A country wept, the world changed, and I silenced his voice.

A great man once said, "...we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter

words, but to live by them."

November 22, 1963.  A country wept, the world changed, and I silenced his voice.

A great man once said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.  Hate 

cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." 

April 4, 1968.  A country wept, the world changed, and I silenced his voice.

I am only a piece of metal, an insignificant fraction of weight.

I have no voice, and I am propelled through the world by hate.

Author's Note

Dedicated to the great voices silenced by the hate of a bullet. Though their voices be silenced their legacy lives on. And in these words we shall never forget them and there hope...for all of us.

Reviews

[William Michael Reeves]

Your poem took my mind back even further in time. To when the first bullet felled the first man. And somehow this poem may have also paid homage to that unknown dead.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you William I appreciate the kind comment. The message of this poem is very powerful and one I so wholeheartedly believe. The power is not in the bullet but the hate behind its intent. This really is a haunting piece. Thank you again.

[Em]

Beautifully written and thought-provoking, especially at present. I love the way you've weaved in repetition to highlight the lack of change when it comes to these issues.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

Thank you, Em. You are very perceptive and caught one of my intentions. Thank you for leaving your thoughts. I appreciate them so very much.

[Samuel Dickens]

With creative flare, you show us the tragedy of men with guns and hatred in their hearts. Never will I understand such evil.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

As a free society it is pertinent to it's survival that the discussions of political ideology remain open in debate. The moment it is met with the silence of hate and physical violence then it is no longer a mutual constructive dialogue where freedom can flourish, but it is where it is lost. When you can't win a discussion with ideas and resort to only bullets then in the arena of debate you have lost the war. It is sad how we as a species have lost the voices of our most prominent heroes by gun violence. Their wisdom remains prescient in our hearts, but what of the profound and moving words they had yet to say? Those unsaid pearls of wisdom forever gone. We should never allow the actions of others to define our humanity toward one another. I am often drawn back and moved by a qoute of a famous American writer and holocaust survivor. His words stand as an indictment toward inaction and indifference toward the plight of those less fortunate then ourselves. Who only search and want the same freedoms which we are blessed to have. He said, "Not to respond to their plight, not to relieve their solitude by offering them a spark of hope is to exile them from human memory. And in denying their humanity we betray our own."
Thank you Samuel for sharing your thoughts and reading this poem.

[Dave Brown]

Man and gun
Too easy
The cowards weapon

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

So true, your words are a powerful indictment toward our indifference toward this subject. Thank you for saying them.

[Kerra]

This is a sad write really, but written so well.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

thank you, Kerra, for taking the time to read this poem. It took about 15 minutes at about 5 am. I was reading inspiring quotes when I heard a gunshot and found it so eerily profound it happened at the exact time I was reading one from JFK. Being born a child of the 60s I had often thought those dark days would never come again. That hate, revolution, and the birth pangs of equal rights were marks of history that led to our societal evolution. And like children we learned and grew from them. But after the past few years I have come to learn how wrong I was for thinking so naively. We are doomed to repeat our moral failings. But I have hope that the days of the silent bullet never return as an answer to our political discourse. We owe it to our heroes whose voices were silenced by such methods. Thank you again.

[Chris Shaw]

Significant dates in the calender when greats were silenced by a bullet of hate. The bullet is a coward. I like how you convey your thoughts here Carlos. They are impactful. Words have more power than the gun.

Chris

[mattavelli]

Hello, Carlos! :)
It is a sad message. I think you delivered it well. Thanks for sharing.