I Vote

There are times in my life
I have not had a choice.
No one asked what I thought.
No one heard my small voice.

But elections are different.
I’m in a land
where we all have a vote,
so I must understand 
the plans of each candidate
hoping to lead.
I ask myself questions,
I study, and I read.

The more that I study,
the more facts I find.
I ask myself questions.
I might change my mind.
And sometimes a friend,
or person I trust,
has a different opinion.
I listen. I must.

My vote is my privilege,
my duty, my right.
I need not be a man,
or wealthy, or white.
I just need to think
and show up in November.
It was not always this way.
I vote. I remember.

Want to read more about voting? Try some of these! 

• Suffragette Film Review: The Long March Toward Votes for Women – Film Review for Women’s Right to Vote
• Juneteenth is Only the Beginning – Juneteenth and the impact that voters can have in the world
• 15 Podcasts to Listen – A list of podcasts for current issues, sci-fi, history, and everything in between
• Taking a Break and Cleansing the Soul – A short essay about self-care for anyone with political and/or voter burnout

Mary Derringer

+ postsBio

A seventy-eight-year-old nursing home resident, she enjoys writing poetry as well as children’s stories. She has a degree in children’s literature from the Institute of Children’s Literature. She has three poems scheduled for publication in the Neopoet Around the World anthology. New to poetry, she has been excited to feel the gratification that comes with having your words valued.

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