Tag: Kindness

Kindness and Coffee

One kind word and coffee will
Open up my heart to you.
If you’re out of coffee, love,
That one kind word will do.

I wrote this while drinking a cup of double espresso with steamed milk at Java Punk Coffee in Colorado Springs.  It was the best espresso drink I’ve ever had.  The photos above and below were taken at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.  I am linking this to dVerse Open Link Night.

Trail at the Garden of the Gods

Kindness Beyond Altruism

I’ve given up on the terms “selfishness” and “altruism”. Those words assume we are individuals with debts and credits in a karmic bank account that can be exchanged. Kindness, especially forgiveness, is a communal experience including even onlookers* and crossing generations. There is no point measuring it. It overflows all containers.

I remember picking up the couple in the evening as I entered I-95 in central Maine. I figured they had to go to the next town, but their destination was one hundred miles further north. They were as tired and messed up financially as I was. She was well along in her pregnancy.

That was so long ago it feels like another lifetime. I drove them to their apartment which was as rundown as the farmhouse room I was renting and left them with a smile. They never stopped smiling back.

WITHOUT MEASURING
AUTUMN SUNLIGHT OVERFLOWS
ONTO EVERYONE

*I realized this after reading Sarah Connor’s post “Kindness — haibun for dverse”.

Text: Linked to dVerse Haibun Monday.  Toni is hosting with the theme “kindness”.  I am also linking this to Debbie Roth’s Forgiving Fridays.

Photo: “Bright Leaves Bright Light” by the author.