POETRY

When nations are under pressure

Dogma rules the day and it goes unquestioned

Established views become final

Protected from any challenge
 

In these circumstances

Those who do not go along

And offend the conventional views

Take a serious risk
 

They may be labeled heretics or worse

They will be pursued by the righteous

By those who normalize people

Those who enforce absolute truths

Punishers who act, as if under compulsion

To make you appear as a serious threat
 

These defenders of established views

They will persuade others to join them

Mobilizing them to enforce conformity

To silence those who question things
 

Their attacks will be ruthless and overwhelming

They will have a life of their own

They will not easily subside

They will gather force

Even in the face of opposition

 
- Rotterdam, Netherlands