Common Cause
(cc)BY D A Ayer 2019-11-13

I once believed in common cause for all mankind:
we’d overturn the horsemen three and only Death would ride to find us in our time.
Yet when I spoke as friend the valiant marked me foe:
I was naive, unrealistic, and my roots so status quo.

This ain’t your cross to bear. It’s not your flag to fly.
These aren’t your songs to sing. Ours aren’t your tears to cry.
The ones who hold us down shall fall as prophesied
and when we march to victory you’ll be there, but on the other side.

And so I came to keep my counsel to myself.
I’d never seek to cheat another…or to lay the blame for my mistakes on someone else.
And I declared my sole allegiance to that goal.
I walked alone along that path with only hope to keep me whole.

I need no cross to bear. I keep no flag to fly.
My own, the songs I sing. My eyes are clear and dry.
No one can hold me down or misdirect my pride.
When heroes cross the river I’ll be here, still on the other side.