You Have the Right to Remain Silent... But Should You?

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In the last 48 hours, I've read about things the eyes shouldn't see. I've felt my heart shred into tiny pieces, partly out of fear and partly out of despair. Fear of the evil the human mind can orchestrate, like the uncivilized practices we still hear of in the news, and despair because it feels hopeless fighting wars that shouldn't exist in the first place.

As a writer, I have shut my computer in anger multiple times today, telling myself that it's needless to talk or write about these things. I'd rather share beautiful stories with my Steemit family. I'd like to share my wins and successes, celebrate other people's wins. I'd like to write about the happy lives we live, our amazing grand mamas and naughty nieces. I'd love to share funny jokes about daily life situations. Not stories of bloodshed, incessant wars or about brazen practices.

But then I remembered the Old Man in Will Allen Dromgoole’s The Bridge Builder.

In the poem, the old man has already crossed the dangerous tide. He is safe. He has no personal need to turn back. Yet, he stops in the twilight to build a bridge. When a traveller asks why he wastes his strength, his says quietly:

"There followeth after me today
A youth whose feet must pass this way...
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building this bridge for him!"

I realised that if I stay silent about the dark issues, if I refuse to write about the brazen practices that threaten our humanity, then I'd leave the chasm open for the future generation yet unborn.

Watch me recite the poem here

As writers, we don't just write to vent. We actually write to build.

We are building a bridge of awareness so that the youth following behind us do not get caught up by the same "pitfall" of ignorance that makes them engage in practises that are harmful to humanity. Writing might not solve the problem overnight, but it lights the way for those who will eventually cross this path.

If you were in my shoes, would you still choose to build? When you watch those heartbreaking news, do you still feel the urge to write? Do you believe that our work as writers is enough to protect the future, or are there more practical steps we must take alongside our pens?

_{If you were in my shoes, what will you have me do?}