Consequences of Doing Nothing

When war broke out
and people risked their lives
I stood still
and I did nothing

When my neighbor lost his home
and was living on the streets
I stood still
and I did nothing

When I saw a kid with a gun
on his way to school
I stood still
and I did nothing

When my friend cried out
for someone to help
I stood still
and I did nothing

When a homeless man looked at me
and asked me for my change
I stood still
and I did nothing

When I saw a young man
shooting drugs up his arm
I stood still
and I did nothing

When an old man was working
straining to lift boxes for money
I stood still
and I did nothing

When I saw a man crying
because he could not feed his family
I stood still
and I did nothing

When a nation was screaming
as their government killed them
I stood still
and I did nothing

When I saw a child with bruises
from being abused
I stood still
and I did nothing

When I saw a woman raped
in a dark alley way
I stood still
and I did nothing

When I saw a child crying
because he lost his mommy
I stood still
and I did nothing

When I saw a group of kids
bullying a young boy
I stood still
and I did nothing

When I saw a man stealing
from a defenseless old woman
I stood still
and I did nothing

When I saw a teen on the street
selling drugs to a kid
I stood still
and I did nothing

When I found myself needing help
I cried out
But the world stood still
and they did nothing

Consequences of Doing Nothing by Kaitlin Tormey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.