Evenor Marquez

For this poem, we are going to leave out the numbers,
Not because I think you're dumb,
but instead because I think numbers leave you numb.
Instead, I'll give you a name.
This name may have more power than any statistic ever could,
This name holds more weight in my heart than any human should.
This name I cannot attach to a place,
nor when it comes to mind can I see a face.
In five syllables it holds more pain,
than any set of thumbscrews could ever gain,
it holds not title, it lacks any fame,
a problem I seek to remedy without any shame,
I have never met the man who owned this name,
but despite that fact, I will still proclaim,
Evenor Marquez.
Presente
I picked his name from a long list,
and since I did I've been called everything from an idiot to an idealist
I've been faced with fascists that would paint themselves as realists
Using a patronizing patriotic voice to tell what the deal is:
that sometimes violence is the answer, well tell me if you can feel this
Id drop books before bombs,
and replace battle cries with psalms,
turn the tide in seas of battle to tranquil calms.
and keep kids in the arms of their moms.
I'd put the power  of peace before brutality and blades
throw words in place of shrapnel and hand grenades
shut down a school that hands out bullets instead of grades,
all because of this one name which never fades.
Evenor Marquez.
Presente.
As we stand here tonight
we may drive out darkness with light
because we have been given ways to be bright
because we know how to act in the right
We could tools from Tesla and from Edison
as our most efficient and strongest medicine
to drive out shadows that plague our kin
we must read the stories in the scars on their skin
we make music with their grief, an almighty din
I will not allow myself wallow, hopeless in sin
all because of one name:
Evenor Marquez.
Presente.
I could give you books of many a martyr and saint,
name the men who sought not lead but to dominate,
but none of these names could my point demonstrate,
nor could they the crooked, cruel, culprits incriminate,
no i will give you the source from where the problems emanate,
it is we, the people cannot control our state.
I'm calling us all out now because there is response I seek to agitate,
I wish us to get past political promises that seek to placate,
I want us to be people they cannot easily sedate,
Because there are those that to us have chaine their fate.
If you're still unsure think of those for whom it's too late,
Evenor Marquez.
Presente.
I am here tonight because of a name that is with me every day,
as constant as the cracks in my joints as I kneel to pray.
It is tacked on to my tongue and every word that I lay,
I am here because I hold a hope that somehow someway,
there be someone somewhere someday will say,
Evenor Marquez.
Presente.