“I don’t want to die!” screamed Wilbur, throwing himself to the ground.  “You shall not die,” said Charlotte, briskly.

“What? Really?” cried Wilbur. “Who’s going to save me?”  “I am,” said Charlotte.

“How?” asked Wilbur.  “That remains to be seen.”

E. B. White

A spider's web is stronger than it looks

Because Charlotte protects him, Wilbur lives

Charlotte the compassionate, and the clever

I am her daughter, no question – but

 

Heather Heyer is dead and

I am trapped

pinned like a bug under glass

 

Are you alive?

Then you can fight.

 

I live in a country where I may be assaulted or killed 

for standing up against bullies and bigots 

This is the reality now

 

You will not be silenced.

 

I want to put a “Hate has no home here” sign at the end of my driveway

My husband thinks that’s unsafe

and refuses

 

Do not be silenced.

 

In our schools, we hang posters that say,

“Stand up for what’s right -

even if you’re standing alone”

 

Silence is acquiescence.

 

Poetry is as good as silence

 

Are you alive?

 

Yes, damn you, I am alive

I want to take up arms

I want to fight

 

but I have no weapons

I have no power

 

Then you can fight.

 

The enemy is ideas

How do you kill an idea

without killing a person?

 

You will not be silenced.

 

This is the truth I cannot avoid:

we are facing a war

 

A war of bullets and bombs,

of blood and bodies

 

A war about how we are defined,

about who defines us

 

I would die for what I believe

I would die to protect another

 

Do not be silenced.

 

To survive herself, Charlotte kills

She is, after all, a spider

 

When the time comes that I face the enemy,

when I can look into their eyes

 

will I kill for what I believe?

 

Silence is acquiescence.

 

How else can an idea

be extinguished?

How else can we win this war?

 

            Are you alive?