This is my contribution to LovelyCurses blog:

http://lovelycurses.com/2016/02/03/black-poetry-writing-month-poem-voter/.

Blood has been shed.

“I’m not gonna vote,” you said.

Was it all for naught?

How much time have you got?

Does it really take that long?

Not as long as it took

our ancestors.

Those sharecroppers,

chauffeurs,

and also maids.

Shoe shiners,

porters,

and most of all, slaves.

Will it cost you that much?

It cost them a lot.

And you think now

of what you haven’t got?

Think of what they may

take from you later.

It’s probably what they want

since it’s not your vote

to whom they cater.

Wise up, young ‘uns

and old folks, too.

Let’s make sure they know

that we aren’t fools.

One is a lonely number

but joined by another

counts for another vote cast.

It’s up to you, sisters and brothers.

They’re waiting,

your ancestors

and so am I.

Copyright 2016 by Pamela D. Beverly