Be the change you want to see in the world they say.
Treat others as you want to be treated they say.
But how am I going to change anything?

How can I stop people from killing?
Killing their kind and others,
Killing for fun,
And killing for food.

How can I stop the blood from spilling
like buckets of paint on the the roads that pave our futures.
Concrete covered in rivers,
rivers flowing from innocent beings
slaughtered by human hands.

How can I open everyone’s eyes?
Turn their heads to graphic images
of beings crying out in distress,
and make them feel what I feel.

How can I stop the violence?

I can stop contributing.
Stop eating products
taken from prisoners.
Stop turning the television off
when abuse is abundant.
Stop making others do dirty work for me.
Stop.

If my life matters
I will make other lives
Matter too.