Everybody Look to your Right
The girl to my right, she made me feel I belong
The girl to my right writes a line, my smile cracks
The girl to my right makes me feel so relaxed
The boy to my right, he makes my heart burst in song
The boy to my right inspired me to be myself
The girl to my right’s smile lights up my week
The girl to my right gives me strength when I’m weak
The boy to my right makes me too feel top-shelf
To my right there should be a boy who’s now dead;
no one fought by his side, stood aside as he died,
his mentors cared not for the pain in his brain.
A sexist man killed a girl, a transphobe got in the head
of one who misgendered, discriminated, took pills and cried…
I implore you don’t murder my brother again.
About Everybody Look to your Right
Written for 'The Practice of Poetry' module's sonnet-focused week, this poem was originally very different. However, after sharing the original version with various writers, I came to understand that unbridled rage, while cathartic, often hurts the people on whose behalf it was born, and is never the most effective way of conveying a message. The old poem should be consigned to the past, for anger should never be allowed to impact love. Anger, after all, is transient; love is eternal.
The original version of the poem can still be found as "Everybody Look to your Right (v1)."
Recorded on
DATE
Read by
Vance Hatton