KINDNESS

"[He] was beautiful in the quiet way
that lonely, unnoticed people are  
beautiful to those who notice them."    
~ C. JoyBell C.    
   
There is a man, leaning  
against a street corner  
post bearing the weight    
of loneliness  
 
Rising salt water trickles   
ore a felled dam of bristles  
below his cheeks  
 
He rocks in the bright sun  
before an abandoned building  
with “Shelter” chiseled  
deeply in arched stone    
   
There are symptoms of lack  
that even Vitamin D  
cannot eliminate   
.    
Each of us is limping    
from our history  
 
Show me scars across  
your own experience—  
how Life crippled you;  
 
show me survival skills  
with one arm, a busted keyboard  
and half-written song    
missing its chorus;    
   
I’ll love you more 
   
Because, sometimes    
there is no sanctuary    
from remembrance—  
no "Shelter" from bygone eras  
or deserted sunsets;  
 
no sandbags to insulate joy  
from a violent onslaught    
of cruel circumstance    
   
Life presents opportunity
to offer love to hopelessness  
to extend kindness regardless  
of our own circumstance  
~