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On This, I Will Not Compromise.

You don't gotta like me - but you will get out of my face.

By Hope MartinPublished about a year ago • 1 min read
Top Story - September 2025
On This, I Will Not Compromise.
Photo by Gama. Films on Unsplash

I do not substitute one value for another -

When someone else's agenda suits me better.

I do not turn blind eyes to cruelty and injustice -

To soothe my inner beast.

I do not compromise one moral for another,

When I need an excuse.

And I do not stake my spirituality on Shepherds,

whose flocks are filled with obvious signs of mange.

You can call me stubborn.

You can call me ignorant.

You can say I am emotional.

You can say what you want to say.

But on this I will not compromise.

Ghandi did not compromise.

Not a single iota any time.

Not when he chained himself to rails,

not when he tied himself to a tree.

And most certainly not when he starved for peace.

Martin Luther King Jr did not shake or cower

in the face of white man's power.

He did not shoot, punch, or kill.

His words were the power of his will.

His speeches of love and equality,

The beauty of his never-dying dream.

Harvey Milk did not give in or relent -

He knew that love is love and love is equality.

And he gave his life for what he believed.

Rosa Parks, Marie Curie, and Malala Yousafzai

Harriet Tubman and Tu YouYou

are women that I wish I could be.

No matter how much I fight against todays hate -

I have nothing on those who changed fate.

So throw your stones right at my face,

I'll watch you do it, I won't turn away.

You can punch and kick and scream.

I'll still stand proud in your defeat.

Because you may think I am too loud and proud,

and you may hate that I call you out,

Your face and twist, and you can scream,

but change me? Only in your dreams.

I don't care about your lies.

My values I will not compromise.

My values I will not compromise.

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About the Creator

Hope Martin

Find my fantasy book "Memoirs of the In-Between" on Amazon in paperback, eBook, and hardback, in the Apple Store, or on the Campfire Reading app.

Follow the Memoirs Facebook age here!

I am a mother, a homesteader, and an abuse survivor.

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    Written by Hope Martin