Page 123 - Poems by Alyson Malach - Childhood to Adulthood
P. 123
A Poem on the Impact of Exclusion
The Freedom Not Given
They called her name to honour,
But the stage was set to shame,
A freedom bestowed in theory,
Denied by barriers the same.
With tears she fought to silence,
In a room so grand, so high,
The irony stark and bitter,
‘Neath the City's ancient sky.
For words can paint inclusion,
In deeds they often fall,
A stage without a ramp,
Is no freedom at all.
The rights we fought to gather,
Enshrined in legal frames,
Are dust without enforcement,
Just promises, just names.
Yet in her heart, a warrior,
With strength to light the way,
She calls for real inclusion,
For action’s brighter day.
So let this be a lesson,
To those who lead and say,
That words are but the starting,
It’s deeds that pave the way.
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