Tongue Tied
Self-appointed people’s tribunes shout
And chant that righteous death be visited
On those proclaimed other, who, it’s said,
Challenge righteous certainties with doubt.
Ernest professed defenders of free speech
Then demand banning of hate words they see
As inimical to democracy:
Language isn’t allowed beyond the law’s reach.
All too readily from good intentions
Voices may be silenced, tongues shackled,
Stopping difficult issues being tackled
Through a malignant state’s intervention.
But then, advocates for better times to come
Can be confounded, arrested; struck dumb!
D. A.