Grade 8 Humanities: Student Voices
Untitled by Walter Koike-Sieira
They will come for the writers,
And there will be no more news.
They will come for the scientists
And there will be no more facts.
They will come for the peacemakers,
And there will be war.
Then they will come for the poor,
And no one will know.
The sick will die,
And no one will know.
Countries will fall,
And past policies will be blamed.
Money will be lost,
And races will be blamed.
Cities will burn,
And the environment will be blamed.
Pain will come,
And women will be blamed.
The groups will be gone,
But the blame will not cease.
And when this is done,
They will come for the light.
Into darkness we will be plunged.
And then they will come for you.
The links will be severed,
The union will be broken,
When they come,
It will be just you and them;
And they will win.
Poem by Kika Kovaleski
As I listened to our 45th president say
“build a wall”
I frowned and shook my head.
But it wouldn’t affect me, so I didn’t speak up.
As I watched our country’s
hate grow
towards Muslims
and gays,
I furrowed my brow and crossed my fingers.
But that’s all.
As I followed the protests against The Dakota Access Pipeline,
I stood with Standing Rock in my heart, but
thinking back, I hardly said a word.
But, when the Women’s March came to be,
I saw an opportunity.
I’m a young woman, I thought. It’s time to fight for me.
But when I stood there,
In a D.C. street packed
with all kinds of people.
I finally saw it.
This isn’t about myself.
This is about everyone who has ever been oppressed
or will ever be.
I don’t get to pick and choose
when to fight.
I need to make the world better for everyone.