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The poet William Stafford was a conscientious objector during WWII - a time when to refuse to serve in the military meant being vilified, and even threatened, by others.  He spent the war doing public service in "work camps".  It was here that he began writing poetry.  This is one of his early poems, written in January 1944

Speech from a Play

 

The reason you cannot say anything is you were not there.

No one knows. No one was there...

 

I heard his voice while they were taking him away.

And after he was gone, I could remember it.

The people around me now will never hear it.

There is nothing anyone can do against the voice.

It is the person with you in a room.  All with you.

No one knows how much.

Arrest me-- I hear it now...

 

William Stafford