A.N: This, I wrote for Young Writers.
Static crackles in the air. I watch in boredom
As single words flash on the glitching screen.
Consecutive, engraved into the subconscious.
The first word blinks.
Loyalty
The greatest fault of the world – Gryffindor
Would be disgraced. Betrayal has lived since the start
Of time – Mahabharata, Greek mythology,
Politics, friendship, blood. Our hearts at stake.
The second word flickers.
Respect
One that decreased gradually, with time.
A nice amount of it makes for a peaceful surrounding
While a lack causes chaotic disaster.
It's why nothing gets done around here anymore.
Shifts into the third.
Tolerance
A quality that only a few have.
It used to be within everyone, but
Now it's gone. The very absence of it
Threatens to throw us into another world war.
Number Four speaks.
Equality
Lack thereof is a thief of opportunity.
It doesn't matter what the difference.
Black. White. Brown. Hispanic. Chinese. French. Jew.
Atheist. Muslim. All flesh is grass. But not.
Stutters into five.
Democracy
Has been burnt to ashes since the day
The above were all flawed. Government
Can't even speak for itself, let alone others.
People are wrecked. Democracy is crushed.
Switches into six.
Identity
Heck, even this is gone now. With the count
Of polluted, toxic behaviour
And public labels, individuality
Is long gone. We can only do but mourn it.
Morphs into seven.
Empowerment.
All thought freezes.
Empowerment.
The word resonates through my stupor.
It rings in my ears like the chiming of bells.
It thunders in my head like the chorus of voices –
Empowerment. Empowered. Empower.
The sound of a gunshot in a deafening silence.
A sliver of light through a veil of darkness.
The rise of salvation in a moment of doom.
The click of a switch that can light up a room -
It's the smallest of choices which empower us so.
It flashes the colour so vibrantly into our
Ever so drab community, which is
Desperately in need of the unity
Which can only be sought if we parade as one
Differences and similarities alike, as we celebrate
Synthesise
Fuse into one, through the empowerment
Which runs in our blood
Boiling hot as the core of
Mother Earth, and the mutual love,
Cool and peaceful as Father Heaven.
If we ignite this flame, it could be
The saviour, to bring them back to life.
