RESPECT RESPECT
Respectrum
A sepigram poem
Respect When disappears like ink from my penmanship Relationship left marked and scarred as creative cauldron Respect Recognize Existential Spirit’s Profound Eternal Collegial Tribunal Debating team where we agree not to agree Trust
Build Bridges twixt hearts, agape, philia, and community Earning and offering forgiveness, understanding, and personal inventory Understanding Avoid casting stones through minds’ glass houses Please keep our own sides of streets clean
Build bridges twixt our hearts and minds
Poet’s Notes:
The title stems from Katie Songer’s under-appreciated:
Wherein she adds a vertical axis to the left-right spectrum, one that spans from respect to disrespect, and writes:
the left-right spectrum … feels like we’re battling to move each other along it horizontally…That’s where the other spectrum comes in — a way to frame our different ways of interacting around politics…the Respectrum.
Similarly, in August 2021, I wrote “I do not argue that a staunch conservative or passionate liberal should move towards the center. Either one of these polar opposites can also practice moderation,” building off of this quote from David Brooks:
“Moderation is not an ideology; it is a way of being. It stands for humility of the head and ardor in the heart. When you listen to your neighbor, you see how many perspectives there are and you’re intellectually humble in the face of that pluralism. When you listen to your neighbor, you see that deep down we’re the same and you hunger to deepen that connection.”
While my poem expands the words' application to all types of relationships.
Creative cauldron is my ode to jules - Miz Mindful, who gifted me a journal in which I often write my poetry.
Sepigram form:
Created by Cendrine Marrouat, whom I cannot tag as I am blocked:
In my line five of the required seven words, I worked in an acrostic for respect: “Recognize Existential Spirit’s Profound Eternal Collegial Tribunal”
This poem was prompted by Carolyn Hastings’s
William J Spirdione reminded me that I had intended to write a promptsponsive poem when this morning, as a subscriber to the New Hampshire Bard, I saw his
While the month is almost over, as Carolyn requested chain letter tagging, perhaps Anthi Psomiadou, Britt H., Maria Rattray, Desiree Driesenaar or Priyanka Priyadarshini (who needs a nudge to write, says her mentor), will participate.
In Rama I create, with soul energy surging through my body, inspiring me and breathing wind into my sails,