Speech for the Speechless

by Michael Sherlock

Leather and steel…march forth and trample me. I am the battlefield, I am the ground you march on and the land you conquer. Born from the womb of Mother Nature and crafted by the hands of God…I have been here since eternity, yet ravaged since the birth of man.

You spill your blood on my soil, you taint each blade of grass…these rolling hills have become a resting place for the foolish. You march forward, claiming me as your own; you name me when I wish to be nameless. You pierce my flesh with your flags, giving me an image I never asked for.

When your right to trample me is threatened then you fight over what is not yours. Explosions tear my skin apart and your bullets penetrate me. What gave you the right to use me…what gave you the right to take away my choice to stay out of this battle, where was my voice…why didn't democracy apply for me. Free speech never applies to the speechless.

I have been here since the dawn of time…and in a matter of decades you wound and reshape me. Mother Nature has grown furious and attacks with malicious intent. You call these attacks tragedy, you mourn those lost in floods and hurricanes but you never mourn the loss of the earth itself.

I can survive countless battles with nothing more than craters and lost dignity…but even while you are at peace you still destroy me, you fight to protect “your land” then destroy it in the same breath.

You look for a “better world”, a land of machines and money…but the world was truly at its best before man ever came to spoil it.

You conqueror, you murderer, you madman, you warmonger. Leave this world for it no longer wishes to accommodate you.