"Your Opinion" - Bahamas AI Art
©A. Derek Catalano
You Are Entitled to Your Opinion
Within the fortress of the skull, a sovereign state resides,
Where thoughts drift in like ocean foam upon the mental tides.
You are the captain of this ship, the ruler of this sphere,
No external hand can force a thought to disappear.
The architecture of the mind is yours and yours alone,
A private sanctuary built on flesh and blood and bone.
And in this quiet, sacred space, you hold the legal right,
To view the world in shades of grey, or strictly black and white.
You are entitled to your taste, to what brings you delight,
To favor shadows in the day or neon in the night.
If you prefer the winter chill to summer’s golden heat,
Or find the bitter coffee bean more pleasant than the sweet,
No logic can dispute your love, no formula can prove,
That jazz is wrong because it lacks a certain kind of groove.
In matters of the heart and art, of beauty and of style,
Your preference is the final judge, the verdict of the trial.
But here the boundary must be drawn, where objective truths exist,
Where reality is solid stone, and not a swirling mist.
For while the mind is free to roam, the universe is fixed,
And facts remain distinct and clear, however they are mixed.
To say "It is my opinion" does not magic truth away,
It cannot turn the gravity off, or turn the night to day.
The right to hold a point of view is not a magic wand,
That bends the laws of physics to the waving of a hand.
To say that every view holds weight, of equal depth and worth,
Is but a comforting mistake that plagues the modern earth.
The hunch of one who’s never read a single page of text,
Is not the same as one who’s solved the issues that perplexed.
The astronomer who charts the stars with math and telescope,
Is worth more than the angry man whose science is just hope.
Democracy belongs in votes, for leaders and for laws,
But facts are not determined by the volume of applause.
An impulse is not evidence, a feeling not a fact,
A guess is not a theory just because it is exact.
You are entitled to your view, but if it stands on air,
Do not expect the world to stop, to listen, or to care.
For opinions built on ignorance are castles made of sand,
That crumble when the tide of truth comes washing o'er the land.
And if you hold a fallacy against the light of proof,
You are not a rebel thinker; you are distant and aloof.
It is not armor for the weak, a shield against the light,
To cry "I have the right to speak!" when proven not precise.
The phrase is often utilized to shut the discourse down,
A heavy, rusted iron gate outside a mental town.
When logic corners bad ideas and tears them apart,
The ego rushes to the front to guard the trembling heart.
"It’s my opinion!" comes the shout, a desperate defense,
But meaningful debate requires a little more making sense.
Consider the mechanic who can hear the engine knock,
Vs. the driver who believes it’s just a ticking clock.
One opinion is informed by years of grease and gear,
The other is a fantasy born of negligence and fear.
To treat them both as valid is to court a breakdown soon,
Like howling at a streetlight and insisting it’s the moon.
Expertise is earned through toil, through failure and through time,
To dismiss it with a shrug is an intellectual crime.
There is a duty that attaches to the rights we claim,
To vet the thoughts we organize and give them all a name.
Before you codify a view and set it on a shelf,
You owe a bit of scrutiny and challenge to yourself.
"Why do I believe this thing? What source have I relied?"
"Is this the truth, or just the place where bias likes to hide?"
For if you exercise the right, but skip the discipline,
You cultivate a garden full of weeds and origin.
So keep your favorite colors, keep your gods and keep your songs,
Keep the moral compass that distinguishes your wrongs.
Keep the way you like your steak, the genre of your book,
The way you analyze a film, or how you like to look.
But when the topic turns to facts, to history or health,
To the climate of the planet or the distribution of wealth,
Bring more than just your privilege to take a stand and speak,
Bring evidence and reason, or your platform will be weak.
You are entitled to the thought, but not the consequence,
Of spreading misinformation underneath a poor pretense.
The truth is not a buffet line where you pick what you please,
Ignoring vegetables of fact for sugary decrees.
Respect the right of others to dissent and to explore,
But know that truth stands knocking at the heavy, wooden door.
And though you lock it tight and say, "My view is strict and pure,"
The universe remains the same, indifferent and sure.
©A. Derek Catalano/Gemini
