HONORABLE MENTION : Origami Poems Kindness Contest 2017
Heroics
by Maryanne Hannan
I used to think kindness
the mark of final success,
but now I know it is courage
that makes the difference
for cowardice can still suffice
as kindness among the living
but nothing short of courage
can summon the worthy gesture
when all our hope is gone.
I know a man who wears a tie,
every day,
even to walk his dog.
Why not, he says.
A while ago he had one on,
and his partner perked up,
smiled from the bed
How handsome you look
How much like old times
In that instant he knew
he would wear one until the end.
It was the least he could do,
he said,
for a friend.
*
Maryanne Hannan © 2017
Maryanne Hannan has published recent poetry in Adanna, Gargoyle, Naugatuck River Review, Oxford Poetry (UK), and Rabbit (AU). Several poems have been reprinted in anthologies, including The Great American Wise Ass Poetry Anthology and The World Is Charged: Poetic Engagements with Gerard Manley Hopkins. A former Latin teacher, she lives in upstate New York.
- Read this and the other 60+ poems in 'The Best of Kindness 2017' available on Amazon or from the CreateSpace e-store: https://www.createspace.com/7018282
Cover art by Lauri Burke