by Kelly Pelton

Meaningless and ineffective
would it be to give up her bus,
singly walking daily to work;
confrontation's what inspired us.

She engaged with segregation,
would not bow to Jim Crow preference,
would not move as ordered, would not
show the whites expected deference.

Her defiance sparked a boycott*
in Montgomery known to this day;
nothing would have happened if she'd 
merely - safely - stayed away.

*https://naacp.org>history-explained (Rosa Parks - NAACP)