by Cynthia Erlandson

The issue wasn’t pertinent to me;
They only came for Jews, and I’m a Gentile.
I didn’t care that some cannot be free,
As long as, in my world, all things went well.
I didn’t raise objections when they came
To slaughter innocents, as Herod did,
Although their evil motives were the same
As tyrants all through history have had.
I didn’t like to think of Falun Gong
And all the cruelty of their Holocaust—
Of how their suffering puts them among
The martyrs of our century. The cost
They pay reminds me that I may, some time,
Be left alone, when there’s no-one to question
The reasons for the persecution I’m
Encountering because I am a Christian.

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Recognized as an Honorable Mention in FoFG’s 2022 Poetry Contest