Kindness

By Justine C. Tajonera

How easy it is
to hurt someone:
a word,
a tone of voice,
a look,
a resistance.

It is far easier
to wound than it is
to heal
and we save our
most cruel
jabs
for those
we love.

When you come
through the door
I can hurt you
with my little
resentments or
I can just
hold you.

These fissures
are bound to
happen
over time
and only kindness
is the salve
for what is
broken.

(Dec. 12, 2009)

Little Cruelties and Little Kindnesses

by Justine C. Tajonera

Where you find little
cruel gestures like
a shove or a sneer
you also find the gentlest
of sympathies,
a touch on our wrist
to let you know
that there's space to sit
or an extra hand strap
to hang on to.

In the same garden
where the savage beasts
claw and tear,
majestic trees
outstretch their shade
and little networks
of quiet ants
build their kingdoms
out of mud.

(Nov. 17, 2009)

Image from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22And_the_palm_tree_nodded_to_the_mirror_in_the_jungle%22_--_winter_beauty_of_the_tropics,_Ormond,_Florida,_by_Underwood_&_Underwood.jpg