People are both
Better than their principles
And worse

You get tired of hypocrites,
But sometimes,
You’re grateful people don’t live
Down to their standards

.

  My friend has cancer.
(That’s not her in the picture;
  I use stock footage.)

  She says that
  If you haven’t been through it,
  You can’t really imagine it.
  But, some people at least try,
  And that makes all the difference to her

.

It isn’t “not knowing” that endangers us,
It is “thinking we know” when
We haven’t been thinking
At all

.

  She tells me it has been
  A good day.
  Her daughters are standouts in school,
  And in her heart.

  She asks me if I still sing that song,
  That one she heard me sing years ago;
  So I sing it for her —

  As she gazes out the window at the lights

        and the shadows reach across the room

                and the song

                                fades

                                                                away