Community

by Edward J. Herdrich

What is it that makes the goal so elusive,

Or perhaps it is just that the truth is obtrusive,

Inconvenient to think or especially say

To make it work, can’t all be one way.

Lakota and Cherokee welcomed our ancestors here

The thought quite simple, bring others near

From one to another, growth for both, possible when we share

Standing not all the same, allowing each their own name

For what cannot be seen, but idea the same

No need to perpetuate an exclusivity game.

Homogeneous for many, the way to strive

Whether Hitler or other, keeping separation alive

Maximize the thought toward that purity jive

Reasons for keeping the same, no change, we can contrive

Rather than risk the possibility that mixing might bring

Of what might happen if we let even the tremolo sing

And join so-called disparate, beyond thought for bling

Harmony, after all, brought forth from that blending thing.

When the truth is in this we must persist

For the best that can be, the reality - coexist.

Edward J. Herdrich      Poetry      Wds. 192     Submitted: June 8, 2024     Critique: July13, 2024