Poetry Corner: Kindness

POETRY CORNER

– 11/07/18

Hosted by Kathabela Wilson

When I suggested kindness as a theme there was an outpouring of good energy and many submissions. This group of poets seems to sing together with an insistent message that we all embrace. All of them see kindness as the only cure “a beacon of hope” as Deborah P Kolodji says, an “elixir” as Wendy C. Bialek creates. As Barbara Kaufmann suggests “let us try”. Reading through these poems, and then their series of “quotes and credits” you will feel the voice of kindness weaving through all of our experience to mend the world.

~ Kathabela

Ο Ο Ο

Holding Hands by Richard Grahn

Richard Grahn

warm spirit
your outstretched hand
has helped me weave
the fabric of my life…
now let me help weave yours

Ο Ο Ο

Shopping Cart by Robert Stewart

Michele K. Harvey

her costume
made from rags and bones
children pass
her wheeling her shopping cart
and offer her some candy

Ο Ο Ο

elixir shelfie by Wendy Bialek

Wendy C. Bialek

ELIXIR SHELFIE

pixie mix me
a magic cure

three drops goodness
five drops kindness
sound of peace

Ο Ο Ο

Heartstones by Michele K. Harvey

Dennis Gobou

in diversity…
all kind(s)ness
welcome

Ο Ο Ο

Natural heart by Deborah P Kolodji

Deborah P Kolodji

fruit year-round
on the lemon tree
a neighbor’s pies

Ο

falling leaves
a young dog guides
the blind dog

Ο

a gift to us
from the forest
wild mushrooms

Ο

rush to catch a flight
she hands me
a foil-wrapped dinner

Ο Ο Ο

Flicker by Barbara Kaufmann

Barbara Kaufmann

a fleeting star
dashes across the night
how swift you are
to light my way
old friend

flicker
in
the
dark
the
kind
word
of
a
stranger

Ο

Kindness: Quotes and Credits

Richard Grahn tells us: “Kindness is contagious. No one taught me more about it than my grandmother. She was the epitome of compassion and understanding. One day she was walking down the sidewalk and another woman was walking towards her. Suddenly, the woman crossed the street as if to avoid her. Not to be dissuaded, grandma followed her across the street and as she passed said a warm “good morning.” This went on through several more encounters; each day grandma crossed the street to extend her cheerful greetings. To make a long story short, 50 years later, the two were the fastest of friends. Grandma never gave up on a person, and certainly not on me.”

Michele K. Harvey says: “It’s the little kindnesses that add up. Children in their innocence, can often show us the way of an open heart.” Michele lives half the year in Hamilton, NY and the other half in Brooklyn.

Wendy C. Bialek, AZ, USA. she believes the world is spinning off kilter…the melting pot of positivity has leaked out and needs to be replaced. Because of this, we are experiencing a moral depletion so all of us must bend to balance the axis by doing good deeds towards Mother Earth and her inhabitants.

Dennis Gobou lives on Saint Simon’s Island, Georgia. His poem was inspired by a spontaneous thought from the expression “It takes all kinds.”; and, extending that to all “kind(s)ness” as a common emotion across all cultures. Also, for Doctor Who fans when Peter Capaldi was The Doctor, a soliloquy’s last words at the DragonCon sci-fi/fantasy convention this year in Atlanta, Georgia, “Be kind.”

Deborah P Kolodji lives in Temple City, California. She says: “In our hectic lives and divided society, an act of kindness can be like a beacon of hope.”

Barbara Kaufmann, in New York, says: “Tiny kindnesses, practiced all day everyday, may be our only hope in counteracting the barrage of meanness in the public square these days. Let us try.”

Ο Ο Ο

♣ We welcome and encourage your response, especially in the form of a short poem, by leaving a comment below.