Tuesday 5 April 2011

 

The Samaritan

He dozes by the phone in fitful dreams,
and ponders, "Life is never what it seems.
In here the night ticks by in blissful peace;
out there, a world of pain and silent screams.”

“I volunteer," he muses with a sigh,
"to listen to the lonely when they cry;
but why so few who pause to make the call?
and why so many choose to pass me by?"

"Because you've got it wrong," the visions weep
from tearful dark recesses hidden deep
within the night. "So get it right. For you
must know that what you sow is what you reap.”

“The lowly ones, rejected and abused
by life, are sensitized by fear and used-
to treading wary. If they sense your plans
and colour-schemes, maybe they feel accused.”

“Forego internal empires. Don't dictate
or label long-term callers 'green,' or state
that sex is 'red;' or this or that one can't
be helped. Accept them all, dispassionate.”

“And train your volunteers to cope with all
and every situation, any squall
that comes their way." He wakens with a start;
but what the visions said, he can't recall.

 

Charlie Gregory
Samaritan Days