A poem in honor of whistleblowers, followed by a tribute to two of the greatest. From Margaret Anna Alice at margaretannaalice.substack.com:
I am republishing my poem Ode to a Whistleblower to honor the memory of Whistleblowers’ Whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg (April 7, 1931–June 16, 2023) and shine a light on the looming extradition of his treasured friend Julian Assange.
Ode to a Whistleblower
by Margaret Anna Alice
It starts as a whisper.
A tickle in your throat.
A glissando down your spine.
A quiver in your stomach.
The hairs on your arms rise up.
A tremor pulses through your nervous system.
Nausea washes over, engulfing you,
Until you can no longer contain it.
What you’ve seen cannot be un-seen.
What you’ve heard cannot be un-heard.
What you’ve felt cannot be un-felt.
What you know cannot be un-known.
To speak that knowledge,
to sing that secret,
to roar that truth
is to risk all—
career, reputation, security, relationships,
life.
