For Australians, ‘I forgot’ to vote is legally unacceptable

Throughout our childhood,

our immigrant parents modeled in consistent action,

words instilled,

distilled at Ellis Island, their entry point into the United States:

Suffrage is a right. Voting in elections a responsibility.

Not always did my parents comprehend the complexities,

dualities, duplicities of politics.

Yet, always did they understand the spiritual truth, translated into civil responsibility.

I vote, not always enthusiastically, not always comprehensively informed.

I vote, always holding in solidarity those who cannot —

the disfranchised convicted felons,

those state declared mentally incompetent.

I vote because I am given a precious right.

I vote because I want the freedom of suffrage to remain in tact.

I vote.

Do you?

 

Selena Kilmoyer, householder Bread & Roses community