graves and bridges

the virtues of disinterested benevolence

“If you want to be a bridge of hope to the world, you’ve got
to allow yourself to be walked on.”—Tommy Barnett

where graves proliferate,
no bonafide
friend may commiserate
with amplified
disdain, to change a world
of indigents,
across life's curtain hurled
like accidents.

let's bridges build, instead,
to span the gap
between the starved and fed;
unite the map
between haves and have-nots.
let ebony
and ivory no blots
cast on the sea.

a soft hand in the night
may heal the brow
of some lone stranger's plight;
a seed will grow
each time you bite the crust
the poor to serve.
your treasures are but dust,
kept in reserve.

true love can build a bridge
of sympathy
to ferry, o'er the ridge,
some refugee.
human disdain hinders
the would-be brave
who, by omission, stirs
his own dark grave.

© Copyright 2023 November 24
by Clyve A. Bowen♫