Voice

This poem is my entry for the Freedom of speech writing contest held by WritersUtopia at DeviantART:

We're standing face-to-face yet,
I feel as though the ground has collapsed underneath me.
I'm screaming from the bottom of a never ending ditch.
How come my words are like the flutter of the breeze that brushes pass you?
Why don't you listen to me?
Don't bury me alive while I'm still crying for attention.
Listen to my pleas.
Listen to my anger.
I have opinions that matter.
I have a voice.

We’re standing face-to-face yet,
I feel as though you’re on a pedestal that I can’t crawl to.
Your words suffocate me like a child drowning in the ocean.
Salt water bleeds my lungs and pulls me below.
I thought that beneath God, we were all supposed to be equal?
Then why do my words crumble underneath your feet like gravel?
Don’t lock me inside a cage.
I am not a bird caught and imprisoned.
I have emotions that need release.
I have feelings that have been abandoned.
I have a heart.

We’re standing face-to-face yet,
I feel as though you are seeing right through me.
My hands, my voice doesn’t reach you where you are.
Isn’t the blood that bleeds in your veins the same as mine?
Aren’t we all humans on this fragile aging Earth?
How come my efforts come to nothing compared to you?
Why must I fight to be heard over the bellow of your whisper?
All our actions should have the same consequences.
I have the right to be respected.
I have the right to freedom.

I am human.