Equality and diversity Contest - entries, please vote

Here are the poems, please PM me votes:
10 for top, 7 for 2nd, 4 for 3rd.
If you don’t vote for three your vote will be set aside.

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1. Open Your Mind

Growing up in a small town
you get used to seeing others
who look
just
like
you....
-
You don't really
know about diversity.
Sure you read about it,
see stuff on T.V.,
but to actually face yourself and admit,
you don't know jack,
that's a tough pill to swallow...
-
I've grown up,
no longer live in that small town.
I've met all walks of life,
different beliefs from my own,
people who don't look
just
like
me...
-
I'm a different person now,
more open, more understanding.
There's a great big world out here
full of all these amazing unique people.
We all have something to share,
so open your mind,
your heart will follow.
We are all of one race,
the human one....

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2. Living with, and as, an oppressor

I was raised
with borders;
my heart suffered,
its love limited
to only what I knew
and immediately understood.

I was raised
to not see skin color,
and in doing so, I became blind,
erasing history from the
rich plains of the earth.

I was raised
to not flinch at the “n word”
safe and sound as long as I used
hushed voices on school grounds.

I was raised
in a household where the name of Jesus
made knees bow, holding more reverence
than the dignity of others.
I dismissed differences, neglecting them,
leaving no room at the table for foreigners.

I was raised
Catholic yet not universal,
seeing the world through gates, veils,
contrary to how the Son of Man often lived -
how he embraced outcasts, freed the
shackles of all the accused.

I was raised
to be wary of interracial couples,
and each time I asked,
the answer was simply “genetics”,
but I wondered why love would need to be contained,
confined for the safety of one?

I was raised
to deny racism and in doing so,
I became my worst fear.
Racism is still an anchor I use to
lift myself out of troubling waters,
a thick tumor I continuously
work on dissecting and removing.

I was raised
to make no excuses for myself.
I was and am guilty
of division; ignorance
a tattoo I can no longer cover up.

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3. Equality and Diversity

I want an apple,
yes I want one too
got to be the same size
as our boss gave to you

But I am a boy
I eat more than you
we are both equal
I thought you knew

I am black
and you are white
that's just a colour
we're still the same height

I am disabled
yes and I am well
I need your help
so I can ring that bell

My religion is right
no more than mine
then we should fight
no peace is fine

Change required
we have to face it
equalities here
now lets embrace it.

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4. “To Crawl “

Between equality and uniqueness
Between two wings
There is a butterfly;
no wings could ever excel the other
or the butterfly would go back
crawling again.

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5. Freedom of Speech

My mind knows what it wants to say
But my mouth won't make the sound
Instead it gets stuck on one point
And the word goes round and round

If I could just move past this bit
I'm sure the rest will flow
But until I can release that word
My embarrassment just grows

I can see that you're impatient
You just want me to 'spit it out'
The pressure to speak is drowning me
All I want to do is shout

But the yelling only exists inside
If I could free it I surely would
I want to speak like others do
Life would be better if I could

I take a deep breath to steel myself
Form the word and try again
It would be such a victory
If I could just tell you my name

Remembering the learned techniques
I visualize what I wish to utter
Speaking only as I exhale
I must conquer this stutter!

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6. At the Expense of Standards

There are women in the infantry
Equality has been achieved
Some standards have been lowered
So the union could be conceived

I have never once been shot
But I've carried a man who was
It took every man on my team
Combined efforts from three of us

One to carry our leader
Across the jagged ground
Two for the suppressive fire
That kept enemies' heads down

We switched off as we had to
Each pulling the others' weight
If just one of us had failed then
We'd all be at heaven's gates

I weigh one-hundred-eighty pounds
In armor I am two-thirty-five
If I'm bleeding on the ground
Can you get me out alive?

If you can lift three-hundred pounds
To your shoulders behind your head
-Don't forget you too are in a vest-
Because if not we both are dead

I care not if you're a woman
That you can carry your own weight is fine
None of that matters to me
But can you carry mine?

My daughters at home depend on it
For you're a soldier wearing green
But if you cannot carry my weight
You have no business next to me

Equality and diversity have no meaning
If those included can't support the weight
For as Euripides once said
Ares, The God of War, hates those who hesitate

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These are fantastic... Good one on the separations "time up" well played Larry. Can I vote even though I didn't enter?

Of course you can vote
EVERYONE should vote

It was a worthy competition dear Larry it is good to see real contribution to the poetical betterment of this site. ( geek's talking)

Still looking for votes, please.

I’ve been waiting for one vote. I don’t think it’s coming so I’ll post the results in the morning.