The Mirror Between Us

We stand on opposite sidewalks,
shouting across the street,
each certain the other side
burned the house down.

Red blames blue.
Blue blames red.
And somewhere beneath the noise,
the people who promised to serve us
sleep just fine.

Every election comes wrapped
like salvation in a flag,
every speech delivered
with polished smiles and sharpened blame.
They tell us who to fear,
who ruined the country,
who threatens democracy,
who stole tomorrow.

And we believe them
because anger is easier
than disappointment.

But tell me honestly—

When was the last time
a politician changed your life
without first asking for your vote?
When was the last letter answered,
the last concern truly heard,
the last ordinary citizen
treated like more than background noise?

I wrote to senators once.
Typed carefully.
Respectfully.
Pressed send with hope still alive
in my chest.

Silence answered louder than words.

No acknowledgment.
No reply.
No human voice saying,
“We hear you.”

Yet every campaign season
my inbox floods like a storm drain,
begging for donations,
begging for trust,
begging for one more chance
to disappoint me differently.

And still we fight each other
like exhausted soldiers
protecting leaders
who wouldn’t recognize our names.

Neighbors become enemies.
Families fracture at dinner tables.
Friendships collapse under headlines
written by people growing rich
from our division.

Everyone claims victimhood.
Everyone points outward.

But maybe the real tragedy
is not that we disagree.

Maybe it is that we forgot
who works for whom.

They survive because we stay divided.
Because outrage keeps us busy.
Because finger-pointing blinds us
to the mirror waiting quietly
in front of us all.

The guilty party
is not merely a color
or a party
or a slogan painted on a sign.

It is complacency.
It is blind loyalty.
It is our willingness
to defend failure
so long as failure wears our team’s colors.

America was never supposed to be
a kingdom of spectators.

We are the employers.
They are the employees.
And somewhere along the way,
we forgot we had the power
to demand better.

So before we scream at each other again,
before we sharpen another accusation
into a weapon—

look in the mirror.

Not for shame.
Not for surrender.

But for responsibility.

Because maybe the only thing
that will save this country
is the moment ordinary people
finally stop worshipping politicians
and start holding them accountable.

© Susie Stiles-Wolf