The swastika was painted on the outside gym wall.
Underneath the words
“Die, fish eaters, die.”
Anti-semitism is broad
and crosses lines
in so many ways.
Victims are sought among Jews,
Catholics, and Romany, too.
No one is excused
from the hate and need to show
that the hater is bigger, stronger,
in control of a world
they feel is out-of-control.
Seeing hate painted on my school
was frightening to see but not the end
of the feelings inside, the birth of my pride.
Cowards in the night sent me such fright.
Unleashing their hate, leashed my own.
There is no place for hate
in my world, nor yours.
Cowards and bullies never win.
They always over-extend.
Hate destroys them from the inside, not out.
Love builds up inside their victims, then out
it flows to every other sister and brother.
What do I know?
What do I fear?
Not a swastika, nor white hood.
I fear those who refuse to do good;
who remain silent and unmoving
in the face of a racism, sexism,
anti-semitism and hate speech;
who laugh at jokes meant to harm and disarm;
who refuse to recognize the alarm
screaming in protest and marching along
streets paved with prejudice and fear.
Who see the writing on the wall
and walk away to gated communities
and streets paved with gold.
They allow the old stories to take hold.
I walk the streets where the injured gather
amid the brave souls who know what matters,
and protect those under attack.
The brave who insist we take truth and love back.
annarino writes 