poetry

majority advice

majority advice

a majority of the time
when the minority warns you
that you are behaving badly
it is not only so but also
you have revealed that you understand
such a minority of the minority’s experiences
that you have not only been careless
but careless to the degree of warranting correction
warranting notification of the nonsense
of your nonidentification
with the minority’s concerns
and then
in the majority of cases
the major actions you must take are:
first, do no further harm –
do not defend your mostly indefensible ignorance;
second, apologize for the wounds (intentional or un-) you have created
or (more likely) further inflamed;
third, apologize for the effort your edification has cost someone
who undoubtedly has better things to do;
fourth, listen attentively and humbly to the majority of this other viewpoint,
even if you only see it by squinting;
fifth, live your life differently, eyes a little wider, viewfinder a little more sensitive, field of view a little larger;
sixth, help someone else from your frame of reference
also see things with this new frame
at least a majority of the time

poetry

turning off hate

turning off hate

one little step toward peace:
disconnect the loudspeakers

how much violence begins
as annoyance –
the simmering ire of being woken
when you just want rest?
the Christian dawn singalong
jars as much as the
Muslim call to prayer

in America
we have our own sectarian divides:
D vs. R
blue vs. red
north vs. south
east vs. west
white collar vs. blue
agnostic vs. religious
educated vs. working class
haves vs. have nots
(note the bias –
all my own assignments
stated first)

imagine if Fox News were broadcast
over speakers in Memory Square
or if my grandparents were forced
to take in a daily podcast
questioning their faith?

even good people break

silence saves our sanity