Big rigs roar past and a black Lexus honks
while a Good Samaritan stops
to give a dollar to a woman
whose hips hurt so badly that she sobs
as she lurches over to the car.
The Afghan vet wanders
the wilderness of highways and back lots
because jihadis come in his dreams
with long beards and knives.
Tears well up when I give
a dollar to a beggar. I look
into their eyes and feel kinship
in a vast suffering.
They always say “God Bless You,”
asserting their connection to God,
their right to give me a blessing.
Mac Greene turned to writing as a solution to the empty nest before the empty nest, when he became redundant in the lives of his children. He spends his days looking for the little miracles that are all around all the time. But he cannot help noticing the tragedies that are also all around all the time. In his day job he is a Clinical Psychologist specializing in teenagers and gender issues.
A Quiet Courage 