All It Takes

All it takes,
Is knowing what respect means.
To understand when appropriate to give it.
That's all it takes.

No one needs to associate or assume,
An ethnic appearance to pride a heritage...
Done quickly to profile,
Unknown religious beliefs.
Or political affiliation.
To place where faces are restricted to live,
In zip codes swiftly to judge and percieve,
Who they are to be as citizens born,
Entitled to be treated...
Equally as a human being.
Or...
A pretentiousness kept,
To charade in masquerade.
With a doing to conform to a normalcy.
Because they are not dressed impressively.
In a democratic society abnormally,
Dysfunctioned.

Although...
Defending to protest against,
The right of those to address their freedoms.
Regardless...
If the ones protesting,
Have deluded themselves to fiction...
What freedom is to live and feel it meant,
Being honest and respectful.
Done without approval.
Or consent to them given.

And this continues to be a problem ignored.
To seem unique on such promising shores.
As if children raised to stay children.
Restricted from growing up.
Incapable to become adults to explore.
Or be taught what that means.
By those fearing more to anticipate.
From children no longer children.
But grown responsible adults.
Still tied to apron strings uncut.
Smothered.
Over protected to achieve,
Beneficial results today this country needs.
Leaving many left to believe,
A moving forward may and could offend...
Mental restrictions on everyone else...
Placed on them without questions asked!

Yet...
Remain to wonder about and why,
The future to live it has passed them by.
Too long gone to prolong,
The acceptance of its absence.

'Why can't our activities,
Progress to continue moving us forward?
As we claim our children,
Are intelligent enough and equipped...
After graduating from college,
To introduce to us all their innovative ideas.
They've been prepared to submit.'

'How and when,
 Do you expect this to happen?
When the majority of those 'kids'
Have taken their degrees and relocated,
To other places unafraid to invest in a future...
By those moving ahead.
With brains in their heads.
And leaving behind the past.
Done by many hoping,
A renovating to update what has gone...
Will forever last with fresh paint.
At the expense and cost to repeatedly believe,
This can be done successfully.
Over and over again and again.
To not get the message they pay to ignore.'

'All it takes is observation.'

'Like I said,
This can be done successfully.
However,
To not get the message to achieve...
Beneficial results expected to believe.
Is and can be,
An expense lost to opportunities tossed away.
If that investment continues to be wasted,
On visions of luxury.
And the feeding of greed.
With thick coating,
Of pretension unmentioned.'

'OH!
I didn't hear you say that before.'

'I didn't think you had a need,
To hear that from me.
Observation has always been the key.
For many accepting reality for what it is.
How many times have you seen,
A dead horse beaten to death...
Expected to get up and win championships?'

'Huh?
What sense does that make?'

'None.'