The Accused

I didn't write this poem but I love its message and I can totally relate to it.  Thank you RavenLynnBrown for writing it!!


*The Accused*




You stand before the court

Accused of Being

Because

Somewhere along the line

Everything you are

Became a sin

And you wonder

What kind of madness

Overcame the world

Or at least your corner of it

So that even

As the child is born

It is considered guilty

Of some Ancestral Crime



And they stand before you

Demanding your response

Are you guilty

Or are you innocent



And you open up the book

Because you are confused

And so you think

What are they asking me?





And you look up the definitions

And the places those words came from

Find guilty means to owe a debt

And innocent means to have done no harm



Then you return your eyes to them

Those whose hawking gaze

Search for that little bit of flesh

That small vulnerability

That they can feed upon



And you declare

You accuse me of simply being born

Of liking the feeling of my own flesh

Of having loved someone of mine own gender

Of honouring Gods other than your own

Of thinking for myself

Of not submitting to your will



And then you answer them

All the things

You say of me are true

I was born

I like the feeling of my own flesh

I have loved folk of mine own gender

I have worshipped Gods other the one you told me to

I cherish the ability to think for myself

And the only will that I submit to is my own



But long ago

I vowed to do no harm

And none of these acts

Of which I stand accused

Has brought any



So I declare that I am innocent

And as for guilt

You owe me an apology



Written by: RavenLynnBrown