We are terrorists, all.

We stand with our backs straight when told to bow and we laugh when you'd rather us cry. We meet your glare unflinchingly.

We are terrorists, all.

We get the joke in ways that you could never understand. We see with absolute clarity that which you stumble over. We hear the sounds that fly past your deaf ears as unmistakably as we hear our own voices.

We are terrorists, all.

Shouldn't we just accept what you try to hand us? Shouldn't we stop being so stubborn, angry, difficult, abnormal, demanding, unpredictable, emotional and uncouth?

Hell, no. We are terrorists, after all.

We are driven by something you cannot measure, threaten or steal. We dance and weave as you grab at us, but we slip through your grasping fingers like smoke. We more elusive than a petal in a windstorm, and this makes you clench your jaw and your fists so tight you'd think they could just pop.

We are terrorists, all.

We move to a gravitational pull that is all our own. We are mocked, deceived, slandered, jailed, beaten and killed, but despite your best efforts, we grow in strength. We can be heard where children gather, in boardrooms behind hastily closed doors, and in the highest office of the land.

We are terrorists, all.

Couldn't we just shut up and close our eyes? Couldn't we be more compliant, reasonable, passive, orderly, tractable, easygoing, detached and polite?

Hell, no. We are terrorists, after all.