Resentment should begin at home--
why should it atart at some faraway setting?
The sideward glance and the flare of green
are home truths rustling in the backyard
of your imagination--
So why place it there?
Or--
Why not center it here--
your neighbor and their muzzein
the call to prayer mingling with
the
church bell call, with its tasteful
jingle of "Amazing Grace"?
How do you face the world knowing
that two, or three, or a dozen faiths
contend, in this very nation--
and custom and Constitution claim
no preference for any?
Meaning no
preference for yours?
(If any.)
Do you pause there, entranced
by the variety of beliefs?
Do you dance on the head of a pin?
Or do you draw back, spent,
recognize the ultimate
reality is that your standard is--
but only one contending. But as for
these other contending voices--
their creed:
Resentment should begin at home,
aquaintance brings these sufferings,
and hearts are only good for strings,
that can be pulled towards anything.
And if that thing be bitterness,
and the others' gross exclusion,
let us come to this conclusion--and
spit a little hate in everything.
But were that sentiment too vicious,
this then, the kinder thing,
the truth that I would mean to say:
Bigotry is wasteful in every way,
and is not a rest for those who seek peace
but a stumbling block to perspective.
That's the missing link--
And as for practice, does hate want
a face to punch,
or a house to ransack?
Does hope want a
place to land?
Isn't the lack of a welcome
the grievous foe
of those who just want understanding--
Think about that, then, please,
We hate so often by degrees,
and singe mere humans with
bad intent. Our lives then seem
much better spent
accepting and not othering.
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