Fists of Concrete

They crawled up the stairs

Fists of concrete fought for freedom

Not limited by limbs or doubt or privilege

Powered by necessity and determination

Their whole lives spent

Being told this world wasn’t big enough for them

That their needs were too expensive for some

And so they crawled up the stairs

——

Three decades since, their memory leaves a legacy

They opened the doors for those that came after

We forget, I think

It’s not taught in classrooms

I learned by accident

About when they crawled up the stairs

——

It’s scary, seeing the passion that our leaders have

For taking away everything our ancestors fought for

Callousness, carelessness

I shout and I protest

So we won’t have to crawl up the stairs