The Long Winter Of Our Discontent Poem by Jim Yerman

When it comes to politics, as in nature…as in life…we would be a fool
to think every question has a simple answer…
to think here are no exceptions to a rule.

Look at all the issues facing us today…each side knows the other's way of thinking is medieval
Each side knows they are right and they are good…and the other side is evil.

Republicans know they are fair and just and honorable in their beliefs
as do the democrats…
But nothing we believe is that uncomplicated…It's never as simple as that.

There is a story behind every one of us…a reason we think and act the way we do
and it has taken a lifetime of experiences for us to form our point of view…

I cannot dismiss or banish you…just because the two of us don't agree.
Any more, just because we don't see eye to eye, that you can dismiss or banish me.

So how do we end this stalemate…as well as our mutual hatred, anger and fear?
If we want to be a great country…where do we go from here?

I believe we should be doing something…we should have been doing all along…
Look to nature for our inspiration because nature will never steer us wrong.

When we're so very rigid in what we believe…in what we vehemently proclaim….
Nature reminds us life is all about change…that nothing ever stays the same.

That's why we have four seasons…because after the cold and snow that Winter brings
once the ice begins to melt…the flowers can bloom again in Spring.

We are in the midst of a cold, cold winter…the only way out would be if and when…
we bring back the Springtime and allow our flowers to bloom again.

It doesn't take a genius, an expert…a prodigy…or a whiz
to understand how nothing in nature is perfect…yet everything in nature is.

I'm not saying it will be easy to blend our beliefs and hopes and dreams
because if we've learned anything from nature it's that nothing is ever as simple as it seems.

But, I for one, am tired of the winter…I'm ready for the birds again to sing…
I'm ready for the sun to shine, the ice to melt and the flowers to bloom again in Spring.