Four Freedoms Poem

Right to practice, right to preach,
Right to hope, and right to free
Tear the binds and break the chains
Walk the line that makes us the same

No need for sick, no need for poor
No need for racism, no need for war
Stand up and let your voice be heard
Don't turn your back on the suffering strange

As a nation, as a world
As a boy or as a girl
If you want to see a change
Then you have to start within
If you want to face the strain
Then you never can give in

You have to be the change.

The poem that I wrote relates to President Roosevelt's speech on the “Four Freedoms” in that it's addressing the problems that the world is still facing this very moment. Sure, these “freedoms” are our human rights, but there isn't a place in the world where all of it exists. So many individuals are far too selfish to see outside their lines and extend their hand. People are willing to say “peace” or “stop world hunger,” but yet they do nothing to aid it. It's almost as if it's become a trend, similar to buying items that say “go green!” yet the item itself is just a marketing ploy. I believe that to create change, you must start change, and that change comes from within. I am far from an exemplary individual, but I still try. If we want these four freedoms to exist, we have to start by making the change in ourselves and spreading that message.