Neil Sedaka taught us in 1962 that “breaking up is hard to do.” Watching a disintegration can be equally heart-breaking and disorienting. Here’s a plea to rethink the direction we seem to be moving in.
© Steven E. Cutts, 2020
a Studio C recording, February 2021
Can we make a new beginning? Can we try to reconcile?
Can we meet out in the middle? Can we bring along a smile?
Can we talk in softer voices? Keep from calling names?
Steer clear of the insults? Avoid assigning blame?
That would be a start. Can we get beyond what’s tearing us apart?
We’ve stood side by side for so long; we’ve stuck together as a team.
Can we call a truce to hope and pray that things are really better than they seem?
We have ridden out some nasty storms and managed not to quit.
Now we need to resurrect a dose of our old grit.
That would be a start. Can we get beyond what’s tearing us apart?
It’s a tipping point; nerves are frayed
Time to turn and climb down from our barricades.
With calmer minds and compromise
What has been dividing we now should put aside.
Can we think of one another not as red and not as blue?
Can we stand again as neighbors? Can we stick to what is true?
Can we hear the Star-Spangled Banner sung in unison again?
Can we make a better life each day for strangers and for friends?
That would be a start. Can we get beyond what’s tearing us apart?
Let’s move on; what’s done is done.
Let’s preserve what’s good for those who’re still to come.
With calmer minds and compromise
What has been dividing we now should put aside.
Can we hear the Star-Spangled Banner sung in harmony again?
Can we make a better life each day for strangers and for friends?
That would be a start. Can we get beyond what’s tearing us apart?
We can make a start And get beyond what’s tearing us apart.