amass

your voices
if only they can be as strong
as you hope
shape them with breathe
and fury
to be a slave
to justice

try to ignore their reply
of metal and powder
exhaled through steel lips
pursed
shouting faster than the speed of sound

there will be time enough
for candles
and prayers
and martyrs
the wounded and dead
will be tended to
like red memories

do not let your hands
be cuffed
anywhere but
before your mouth
do not let your doubts
be heard
by anyone
by yourself

barricade the streets
and your resolve
with
half understood ideas of democracy
and rust and wire
with
words shouted in unison
and disabled  machines
with
splayed wood and crumpled newspaper
and fidelity to the future

one is a demonstration
the other a crowd
one is a mob
the other a mass