OUR AMERICAN WAY

Feb. 29, 2016

Politics, policy, and personality...These three themes seem to occupy today's stage in our current political atmosphere. It seems that wherever we go these days, politics tends to enter the conversation. We are proud of our democracy and in our American heritage on which it stands. Indeed, we are a Republic and thus we elect those individuals who represent each of us in the halls of government...locally, regionally, statewide, and nationally. This is our American way of doing things. The following poem, which I have written, sets forth the framework on which we base our hopes and aspirations in this Republic of ours. For you see, this is so much a part of the fabric of the American way.

THE AMERICAN FABRIC

We are just a plain and ordinary folks...
That is the fabric of our American land.
We each try to do the job we have before us
And to do for others... whenever... whatever we can.

There are now, candidates running for elective office
And that is the way it should be in the land of the free.
We are proud there are citizens who are willing to serve
With virtuous dignity, for you and for me.

We so want our candidates who are running for public office
To be honest, forthright, and trustingly true;
WE look for genuine statesmanship of human virtue
Who respect the banner of our red, white, and blue.

All we ask is to feel safe in our home-land
And to be secure in our great out-of-doors;
We are a great Country in which we are proud to be living
As a people, within our freedom-loving shores.

Truly, there are candidates for various levels of office
From positions in our community...to the Presidency of this great Land
Their honesty, and patriotism is required at whatever level
To provide most thoughtfully, a trusted guiding hand.

WE are not looking for candidates who cast negative innuendo
Or hurtful personal insults, as a way to politically endure;
For clearly, those who transmit such poisonous venom
Says more about the instigator than the intended victim, to be sure.

We just ask for candidates with sincere and honest candor
Who are capable of performing each day...
The responsibilities of office they are seeking
In a patriotic and character-filled way.

The true spirit of our democracy stands in the balance
It is indeed worthy of the highest level of performance.
For then, we are assured we have preserved the true nature
Of this Republic’s fabric: our passionate American endurance.

....... Poem by Robert L. Heichberger