We Rebel

A Poem

Photo by David Billings on Unsplash

We rebel.

Because rebellion is the quiet insistence that dignity matters.

Because rebellion is the simple recognition that human meaning is not negotiable.

Because rebellion is choosing courage over convenience, clarity over confusion, connection over isolation.

We rebel because we are awake, aware, and alive—and we intend to remain so.

We rebel, my friend, because it is the most human thing we can do.

For Frodo.

Because sometimes the smallest among us carry the greatest burdens.

Because even ordinary souls can change the course of history.

Because courage isn't the absence of fear—it's choosing to continue despite it.

We carry the ring.

We bear the weight.

We step forward, uncertain but determined,

knowing the journey is long, and the path is dark,

yet believing that hope persists.

For George Mallory.

Because sometimes the question isn't whether the summit can be reached,

but whether the climb is worth making.

Because what drives us forward is the raw and defiant curiosity

to find out what's there, even if the answers may cost us everything.

Because some challenges are meant to be embraced precisely because they are difficult,

because they call forth capacities we did not know we possessed,

because they remind us of our courage, our fragility, and our astonishing humanity.

We rebel—not only against what holds us back,

but against the idea that meaning must be found at the peak.

We rebel by recognizing that the climb itself—

each step upward, each moment of struggle, each heartbeat in defiance of gravity—

is the source of meaning.

Because it is there.

For every small hand that reaches toward truth.

For every voice that speaks when silence would be safer.

For every heart that chooses love when cynicism offers easier refuge.

We rebel because the universe is vast and indifferent,

and our rebellion makes it less so.

Because consciousness is improbable,

and our awakening makes it sacred.

Because meaning is fragile,

and our choice to create it makes it eternal.

Tonight, we are the ring-bearers and the mountain climbers,

the circus performers and the quiet heroes,

the ones who choose the difficult path

not because we must, but because we can.

We rebel.

Against entropy.

Against despair.

Against the forces that would convince us

we are too small to matter,

too flawed to govern ourselves,

too human to deserve dignity.

We rebel with every word of truth,

every act of love,

every moment of sustained attention

in a world designed for distraction.

The powerful play goes on.

The ring must be carried.

The mountain calls.

The wire holds.

And we—we choose to answer.

We choose to carry.

We choose to climb.

We choose to walk.

We rebel.

Because it is there.

Because we are here.

Because the space between is where meaning lives.

We shall never surrender.

This is the birth of rebellion.