revolution

I’ll write your name on a picket sign

and love you like a protest

I never raise a fist to be benign

I’ll compose poetry in bold, never cursive

never peaceful, always subversive

the megaphone always echoes your name and mine

to impeach you from the mind is a constant struggle

every day, I dream to resign in your arms

and the world calls me a rebel

I would be an insurgent against norms

battle dictators in all their colors and forms

spark eighteen first-quarter storms

if I can’t love you…

face the wrath of a vandal

I’ll paint your name on every picket sign

dirty every city wall, make a scandal

defy all laws to draw a picture of a better world for us

for you and me

but to love you like a protest is to accept defeat

like it’s an everyday occurrence

a change of mind is never an easy feat

I’m prepared to have all means but no ends

if by my calls, you don’t heed

I’ll use cardboards to overthrow all institutions

and if protesting my love is a crime

I can choose to love you like a revolution

Written by Matthew Kirsten Mendez