We never know
so there is never any choice,
but to be kind.
We do not know,
so there is never any reason to assume we do
or that we’re right,
for we’re often wrong,
and far from expert,
in our deductions.
We may never know
so we must uphold others in their right to hold their own
counsel.
We cannot see in to another’s heart,
or give them words we would want them to say.
They are them and we are us,
and only sometimes do we meet in that place between.
And that has to be enough.
At other times
when we are strange ships that pass
too close for comfort, or oblivious at night,
then we are to trust,
that what makes them human
responds to the humanity
in us.
We are alike.
Alone in our uniqueness but none the less still attune.
No we never know.
But we are gracious as we remember how it is
that love
covers all our differences,
and gives us the freedom to exist
individually, and separate,
but linked.
Yes love it is,
that gives us the power to be kind.
And kindness it is,
that keeps such love alive.
Ana Lisa de Jong
Living Tree Poetry 