Songs to Sing

We need new songs--
words that dim hate filled
rhetoric, words that remind
us that it's not us against them,
words that ask us to listen to one
another, to see in another's face
our own reflection, to replace every
hurt with love, with a refrain of we are one
We can sing the songs of the sixties,
but it's time to once again create
words and melodies that speak
to this time, to the chasm in
our country, to the need to
stand up and be counted,
to refuse to let hate
have its say

We need to sing and shout
new refrains, we need to gather,
we need to march, we need to
look at one another with love
We need to be counted
We need songs to sing
and words to unite
and prayers
to pray