Roses & Violets
Or, My Fellow Americans
We stare at each other across a divide
We mock & stab & indict
Pause for a while with questioning eyes
As if we both know that — we don’t have to fight —
Soon enough at it, again, uncivil, unwise,
Because nothing’s beloved as Pride.
So we stare and we yell, & I cry inside
Because this goes on out of spite
Denial’s been fattened on purpose built lies:
We're really just hoping we're right
But each wants a trial, so neither one tries,
Although both will have said that they tried.
When the future comes asking,
could you explain why
You never once tried to listen instead?
If you knew what the price was,
would you still want a prize
If it meant some of us hurting or dead?
We united to care for each other
Not power, or money, or things;
All of us equal as brothers,
Unyielding to tyrants or kings.
My fellow Americans!
Stop now & decide!
Dare reimagine
this Nation aright
We must reconcile,
so we need to revise:
Because
the ‘Right’
is as
US
as the ‘Left;’
Because
the ‘Left’
is as
US
as the Right.