Henery, thank you so much for reading my poem and for responding. Please know how sincerely I appreciate it.

There is so much wrong with our world. Brewing and festering over years and years and years. Had any leader or collective public effectively addressed it earlier, we would not be in the mess we are right now. In so many ways, hardly anything has changed. Which is beyond depressing.

Truth be told, I am at a loss to know what we can do to fix it. I am beyond upset.

But Henery, I have to believe that somehow we can get this right. I still believe in good. And maybe now, finally, we are evolving to the point where we can succeed. Trouble is, things are so ingrained that it won’t be easy.

We cannot give up. This I know.

Not voting is like giving up. Or giving the wrong candidate the advantage if most good people like you, Henery, are not out there casting a vote for your opinion.

The best we can do is show up and vote for someone who will not, like a dictator, shut us down.

Spoiling a ballot or voting for someone who has no chance to win will do absolutely no good.

The ultimate winner will NOT solve this for us. We just need someone in there who will let US do the job we need to do.

I fear this is not what you want to hear. And I get it, things are so bad that there should be an ideal person ready to fix things.But shoulds won’t help us.

We need to do a big gulp and be practical. The right to vote is a powerful thing. If enough people get practical, we will be heading in a better direction. A better direction where we the people, can play a bigger role in the day to day stuff.

We gotta stay positive, man. (This message coming from the woman who is struggling to do so as she writes to you…)