Why I had to be a political activist

After watching

Sitting passively

Not participating

I knew

I had been distracted

There is no shame

A conversation is enough to start

Re-directing the agenda

Giving the power back

To the people

We all live under the political domain

Either actively or passively

So I ask will you

Speak out now or later

Cry out ... why me?

-Camille Delaquise

This poem appears in RISE, Camille’s second contemporary poetry collection. Why I had to be a political activist considers political awakening as a moral turning point — suggesting that to live under power without response is itself a form of participation, and that even the smallest act of speech can begin to return agency to the people.

This poem is available as a contemporary poetry print on textured recycled card.