Cultivation of Differences

We ask, require, demand that those around us be like us,
share our attributes, our beliefs.
And in so doing, we compare... one to another.
In that process, do we not squash the spirit of one
who is different from us - 
one whose thoughts and dreams and talents 
lie in a different place?

We are like wrought-iron gates.
Although similar in design,
what thrives in one spot does not grow in another. 
On one, there is rust or corrosion or patina,
while on the other is mellowed brass.

One is not more beautiful than another.
Each has beauty in its own right,
if we will only look... if we will only see.