What If? What If? Poem by Eric Cockrell

you are convinced...
that i am a socialist,
a deviant, a rebel,
a lost cause....

what if your mother
lived in Iran,
Afghanistan, Syria,
or even North Korea?

would you want to drop
the bombs then?
what if your father
was on Death Row?

convicted of a crime
you knew he didnt commit?
would you still vote
for the death penalty?

what if your sister,
strung out and desperate...
was a whore on the corner?
would you still want

to cut social programs?
what if you brother,
jobless and penniless,
had his house foreclosed?

leaving him homeless and hopeless...
would you still vote
to bail out the banks?
what if your children

were hungry and starving,
and no one would help them...
would you take the law in your hands?
what if? what if?

look around you!
the faces you see
are no different than yours.
maybe a different skin tone,

maybe speaking a different language,
maybe worshipping a different god...
but really, not any difference!
the faces you see are your own!