You can call me brother. You can
tell me stories, lay out your troubles,
express opinion (or question mine)
and share a bit of your wonderfully
complicated life with me.
   In doing so I would only expect
that you extend the same courtesy.
   I too have thoughts and many, or
most (or some) will be contradictory
to yours. That’s only right. For while
we all eat, sleep, breath and shit, we
do so differently.
   We are all different (and that is one
thing well worth talking about) and
while we may feel some of the same
pressures or obligations, there is so
much more going on.
   So while I am open to hearing your
politics, poetry, personal convictions
or preoccupations, I am interested
in — and more inclined towards —
dialogue that might provide a greater
understanding of each other and this
curious world we continue trying
to figure out.
   Let’s talk, and let’s listen.
© 2017 j.g. lewis