consensus, as a country?

consensus(kənˈsensəs), as a country?

one, from our many?

By Henry H. Walker

Quakers(ˈkwākər) strive(strīv) for consensus,
to make a decision that all are comfortable with,
and that’s way harder than voting,
just over a half is a step in the right direction,
but then just under half can feel their ideas and selves(selvz) are denied(dəˈnī),

in the United States a few tens of thousands of votes
tipped the Electoral(əˈlekt(ə)rəl) College into electing Donald Trump,
though the popular vote more substantially favored(ˈfāvərd) Hilary(ˈhilərē) Clinton,
and our country is fractured(ˈfrakCHərd),

if current polls are to be believed,
about 40% of the electorate(əˈlekt(ə)rət) still want Trump to be president(ˈprez(ə)dənt),
despite how disastrous(dəˈzastrəs) he has been
in the struggle to transcend(tran(t)ˈsend) the tribal(ˈtrībəl)
and build a blessed(blest) community out of all of us,

it is important to deny(dəˈnī) the emperor(ˈemp(ə)rər) with no clothes
even more years to splinter(ˈsplin(t)ər) us and to splinter hope even more,

yet somehow we need to find a way
to welcome those who have followed him
back into a union(ˈyo͞onyən) composed of many,
to somehow do better than Reconstruction did,
for his supporters to know
they are a valued part of a larger whole,
despite the roiling(roil) hate(hāt) that drives us to fear.

https://henryspoetry.blogspot.com/2020/07/consensus-as-country.html