*****

Recorded Reading (2:22): https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/hd579p15ppv88ko694627/whether-or-not-we-agree.mp3?rlkey=5q264mjpw1e1trervp8ffeq5z&dl=0

*****

whether or not we agree

you don’t want to talk to me
don’t you worry: i agree
that useless exercise it be
look, you’re off the hook — you’re free!

first thing i’d probably do
commencing to converse with you
might already make you squirm:
might ask you to define a term

you might say, “none can expect
anything ever to perfect”
inquire would i ensuingly
what you say “perfection” be

i have written out a sonnet
and a poem or two on it
already this talk before:
i can offer four

definitions of the word
glibly spoke, carefully heard:
two completely realistic
one ethereal and mystic

of those four be only one
may by effort ne’er be won —
i’ll then a little moment take
the further observation make

of absence most unfortunate
of definitions literate
sufficiently well
of high ideals tell

the while we yet proliferate
adjectives for hurt and hate
denigration and debate
early, long and late

by these means, you may not see,
i try to bring us to agree
instead of endless cycle our
favored opinions hour by hour

while consigning to the fall
anyone who thinks at all
other than we have been taught
every single body ought

countenancing all of these
considerations perchance please
your own conversational
preferences not at all

who wish but to bombastic state
opinions in brutal debate
designed to run them roughshod o’er
the “other” — what’s that even for?

come to me for words, my friend,
when you’ve nothing to defend
universes we’ll relate
to each another — celebrate

their sameness, and difference too —
i’ll respect and honor you
and you will do the same for me
whether or not we agree

*****

This poet presently lives at a fraction of her nation’s poverty level.

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