When I was a young poet, toiling on the writer’s cafe (www.writerscafe.org), there was this one constant presence. One indomitable giver of praise, recognition, reviews. I won’t forget WHO that was, or their quality of compassion, generosity and their human spirit: it’s
https://johncoyote.wordpress.com. This poem is dedicated to him:
The Medicine Collaboration
Life is hard, they used to tell me
I didn’t not understand
Until I found out for myself
Life punishes the ones we love
Enough, to internalize kindness
Is there a cost to being kind?
Mercy, forgiveness, gratitude
It’s not an investment
Altruism isn’t a burden
Being nice isn’t difficult
Life is hard, I heard it again
From my own mouth
Later in life, and I could see
What they were saying
Cut jobs, heartbreaks, divorce, debt
Living had a silent toll
Art was a release of the good & bad
The chronicle of our relationship
With a God, that wasn’t going
For an easy life without errors
Failures had a place in our learning
Evolution wasn’t afraid
Of tragedy, dying young, cancer
Life is hard
So why not try to do some good?