Oh God help me now to cry out and bear witness; Help me to send forth a great cry at the darkness; Help me to waken my brother from his dream of rage and fire; Help me to cry out in defence of my brother. Hush; do not let a moment's delirium Negate the decorum of a lifetime of indifference. If you should cry out there would be nothing to say. Hush; you would only waken the others. Oh who among the bright hosts of the heavenly angels Will call forward my name on a dark day? Unless I cry forth to point my dark to the light, To speak for my brother, that day who will call my name? Hush; do not let the temporary fever Astound the moment with its population of phantoms. You do not wish to appear ridiculous. Hush; there is really nothing you could say. Oh if I do not rouse him who will awaken my brother Dozing in this enduring instant of eternal damnation? Sleepwalking in his immortality which is only lifelong -- Oh Watcher, help me to cry forth to my brother. Hush; do not let the guilt of a dark hour Breed the excess of revolutionary sympathy. Do not trust anguish; it is without function. Hush; the day comes: wherein no man speaks. Used with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P.O. Box 271, Port Townsend, WA 98368-0271, www.cc.press.org | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE LOVE POEM by KAREN SWENSON TO MARY IN HEAVEN by ROBERT BURNS AN OLD WOMAN OF THE ROADS by PADRAIC COLUM THE BLACK RIDERS: 9 by STEPHEN CRANE THE CREATION (A NEGRO SERMON) by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON IN THE LAND WHERE WE WERE DREAMING by DANIEL BEDINGER LUCAS GREEN LEAVES AND SERE by MATHILDE BLIND SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE: 12 by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE: 2 by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING |