At the End of the World, Begin Again

By Ann Weil

                 After “Rainstorm After a Layoff” by Meghan Sterling

 

Kindness is always possible—the held door,

the slip of smile

on a grayed-out day,

a fiver tucked into the barista’s tip jar.

 

A girl wants a boy to kiss her,

but his hesitation

is kindness waiting.

For now, a shared umbrella is enough.

 

The doctor sits on Mother’s hospital bed,

strokes her face, calls her Sweetheart.

She’s 87 years old,

still putting on lipstick before his visits.

 

Kindness is always possible—

a pillow eased behind an aching back,

spare coins left at the laundromat,

milkweed planted to host caterpillars,

 

a cheek turned, a fist unclenched,

an arm thrust

between elevator doors

so that more of us can rise.