Safety

A brief poem about an enduring promise to stand with those oppressed

Not much
A safety pin
Pinned to my shirt pocket
A promise to stand against hate
With you



*Form is a cinquain, a short, usually unrhymed poem consisting of twenty-two syllables distributed as 2, 4, 6, 8, 2, in five lines.

**A movement has started in the U.S. of people wearing a safety pin in order to demonstrate they do not believe in the wave of racist and xenophobic acts and comments which followed the U.S. election.

The safety pin is a way of showing they are a safe space for those who are afraid, many of whom are minorities. Of course, the safety pin is only a symbol. What matters is the promise, and acting on it when you see minorities and marginalized people attacked or mistreated.