Thread by @DanJHines

A 2020 BC Election Poem
-Dan Hines

Sometimes hope is optimism.
I like those moments.

Sometimes hope can only be raw defiance.
Sometimes hope feels more like refusal.
It feels like refusal tonight.
1/9

I refuse.

I refuse to be silent.
I refuse to be limited to binary either/or reactions when I know a third way is possible.
I refuse to lie to myself that I can’t change any of this.
I refuse to be complacent as powerful corporate interests corrupt our politics.
2/9

I refuse to resist justice and reconciliation with First Peoples when I know the land is stolen.
I refuse to remain unaware of my white male privilege.
I refuse to accommodate myself to the meaningless destruction of so many species.
3/9

I refuse to just sit peacefully by our river and meditate, as the salmon disappear.
I refuse to allow another ancient forest to be destroyed for a few dollars and a few logs.
4/9

I refuse to permit our government to give another dollar of public funds, on top of the $ billions already handed over, to foreign fossil fuel companies to prop up a failing LNG industry.
5/9

I refuse to invest a penny more into the Site C dam when we all know it is a tragic disaster.
I refuse to believe that the vulnerable and marginalized are anyone but beloved children of God.
6/9

I refuse to withhold a safe supply of pharmaceutical alternatives to those struggling with addiction.
I refuse to be condemned to the paralysis of cynicism nor escapism.
7/9

I refuse to adapt to the unacceptable and unjust.
I refuse to forget who I am and whose I am.
8/9

I refuse to accept the label of being an idealist when I know I am a realist.
9/9