Tolerance

Love is not the only law

Capable of helping people more humanely

Live well together. History has shown,

Good neighbors do not always love

Time together. Sometimes we must yell

No. Even when preferring to whisper

Yes. We hope for complete concensus.

The views we hold can change

Over our lifetimes. We may reverse

Opinions we have securely held reverantly

Through the many years of tradition.

Tolerance is an idea that arrives

After we understand that even unbalanced

Conversation is concretely preferable to conforming

Our beliefs with others’ new definitions

Of belonging. Even more equitable words

Born of a thoughtful, universal design

Can be misapplied injuriously when stolen

From the tested. When new thoughts

Are modeled to replace warm reason

With cold, measured, demonstrated-differences, only power

Changes direction. An hourglass isn’t new

When it is flipped over. Filtered

Sand of the same size and shade

Is a tale of the trenches.