Compassion in Action
/Daily life has a way of calling us to compassion, or to the realization of our lack of compassion. The following poem was inspired by an experience in San Francisco over twenty years ago.
CITY TAMALE PARLOR
Evening brought you
With bucket of flowers
Into the tiny café
Would it have mattered much
To have bought even a single rose
To you it would have
You were my age and
Worn by hard work
A simple cotton dress
Covered by a coat too small to close
Why did I not at least
Hold the door open for you
As you struggled out against its gravity
Why was I glued to my seat
Immobilized as if watching a movie
Angel among us
Forgive my numbness
One bouquet please
Jackie Freitas
