First They Came

First, they came for the immigrants

and you said nothing

because they were taking jobs you would never work

and speaking a language you did not speak

Then they came for transgender people

and you said nothing

because you were so obsessed with the genitals of the person in the stale beside yourself

and the concern of someone being ‘woman enough’ for you

Then they came for the queers

and you said nothing

because you could not stand the thought of someone living their lives in peace

without any concern to the so-called sin you screamed and preached

Then they came for the protesters

and you said nothing

because they were too loud, too demanding, too much in your way

making too much of a fuss because you never want things to change

Then they came for woman

and you said nothing

because a woman’s place was meant to be in the home, beside her husband, raising her kids

and you don’t understand why that wouldn’t be enough

Then you came to visit me,

and you realize that you had said nothing

when you found I’d been swept away in the mess

Then they came for you,

and there was no one left to say anything

when they took you away just the same