Political Landscapes Poem by Laurence Overmire

You and I
Cross swords
On either side
Of the political divide

We hate one another
For our defiant opposition
Words becoming crude
Blunt instruments

To mangle and maim

Only one of us
Can be right, we think
And the other must be
Wrong

We dare not look too
Closely
And see the vulnerability
Of our own blindness:

How perception can be
Accurate
From more than one
Angle

2 + 2=4
And so does
1 + 3 or
4 + 0 or 0 + 4

When we stop communicating
Because of our anger
Our frustration, our resentment
Then we have truly lost

Whatever it is
That will lead us out
Of the darkness
All of us

In the haughty disarray of
Our own minds
We condemn ourselves to
The intransigent ego

Killing the hopeful
Possibility
Of a viable understanding
That is both reasonable and

Wise.

~ Laurence Overmire