PATIENT AND KINDLY

You do/will not understand (my view of) it
Therefore your viewpoint is invalid
Therefore you are invalid

When you both do this to one another
You can go on arguing
And get nowhere
Until one of three things happens

Give up – avoid in future – pretend
Win: triumph and submission (bribe – threaten – bully)
You start the killing

As a child
Watched parents
Other adults
Other children
Saw the games
Vowed to avoid that
And seek another way

Let us stop a while
Slip into Patient And Kindly mode
Slow down, take time
Let us work together

To examine your viewpoint
And all its implications
Inevitable and likely
With the use of reason and openness
Without emotional turmoil

Then let us do the same with mine
Let us together decide on a plan
Come out with something
We can both stand behind
And be modestly proud of
With nothing to hide from anyone

This is what turns a politician
Into a statesman

And we are all politicians
And we all have that choice
Of course to work properly
You both have to join in