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The Weight of Indifference

Inspired by Gerta Spieß’s haunting lines, “There’s nothing to be done,” this poem, The Weight of Indifference, examines the moral cost of inaction. It reveals how silence and apathy chain the oppressed and stain the conscience of the innocent. A call to confront the guilt born of indifference, it urges us to speak and act, even when trembling, for silence is the crime of care.

What marks the guilt of those who stand aside,
Where does it root, where does it grow?
It starts when hands are clenched, yet tied,
And eyes avert from truths they know.

It starts when lips, though free, stay sealed,
When hearts, though warm, refuse to burn.
When cries for justice go unconcealed,
And souls, once kind, no longer yearn.

For every step not taken, bold,
For every word left unexpressed,
The weight of silence, harsh and cold,
Becomes the chain that binds the oppressed.

So speak, though trembling, take your place,
For silence is the crime of care.
The guilt begins in vacant space,
Where none dare act, though all despair.

🌷(7)

guiltsilenceinactionjusticemoralityresponsibilitypoemreflectionGerta Spieß

◄ The Price of Submission

The Fury of the Fragile ►

Comments

Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh

Tue 4th Feb 2025 09:45

Thank you, Rolph. Eloquently expressed.

I fear you’re correct, Flyntland. Perhaps a year or so ago, in comments on WOL, in a discussion as to what might replace the moribund Tory party, I suggested that they would not die off, but morph into the Reform party, with all its fascist tendencies overtly celebrated; and now, there's hardly a ciggy papers’ difference between them and war-crime enabling Labour.

It appears I was correct. And who are the objects of their adoration? None other than Trump and Musk!
God help the UK!

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Stephen Gospage

Mon 3rd Feb 2025 22:02

Thankyou again for this wonderful poem, Rolph.

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Trevor Alexander

Mon 3rd Feb 2025 21:45

Something of a call to arms when many feel helpless in the face Trumplogic and doublespeak,

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Flyntland

Mon 3rd Feb 2025 15:35

This poem shouts to us - it is passionate and demands to be read.
It evokes memories of the build-up to the Second World War and is a stark warning that it could happen all over again if Trumps obsession for personal power is not controlled.



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