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

  Objectivity

Edward J. Herdrich

The frauds we create, the lies that we share

Prolific profits reflecting how much we care

Hired to find out the details of the crime

Questions answered the same all the time.

Always concern for the who, what and when

I tell them to you, what will you do then

For with info and data the battles wages on

Larger truths belie facts we stumble upon.

The detective we think will find us the clue

Show us the method which some will say new

Only what hasn’t changed from then until now

Is not any depth, only the surface is how.

In music, the arts, every facet of life

Can we squeeze a few cents from even the strife

Lyrics and prose try to speak to the cause

Best throw in a hook, lose the book, give real thought a pause.

You have all the facts, all that will allow you to deny

But the question unanswered, the one we most need reply

To address the change needed, the riddle completed

Whether the funds depleted, the bottom line cheated,

Allowing the endless cycle of history repeated,

Cycles don’t end, without knowing why.