It took several days of writing to get this to where I decided to publish here. Still not completely happy with it. Yesterday, November 13, was World Kindness Day. There is so much anger and division in the world but yesterday I read about many acts of ki
and just be kind.
If you can’t say anything nice - don’t.
Just stop.
We’ve moved far beyond
those simple clichés
into dangerous territory,
where one sharp comment,
one careless post,
can undo a life.
Literally.
Honesty should not mean cruelty.
Some opinions are better framed
to gently guide rather than destroy.
The result when words are slung
in the guise of “just being honest” -
a hollow victory.
Who really wins if both sides retreat,
one with ego boosted,
the other with self-doubt?
Sarcasm - the kind born of frustration and pain -
wounds on both sides:
a weapon to weaken,
a shield to protect.
Resentments grow stronger.
Walls grow higher.
Both - impediments to understanding.
So, on this day of kindness,
a day devoted
to service, to empathy,
to lifting up instead of tearing down,
maybe we can hold our tongues,
still our fingers, and remember:
the world could be a better place
through the exercise of just one thing -
self-control - which after all,
lies at the heart of kindness.
Maybe then,
in the quiet that follows restraint,
we’ll begin to feel the hope -
of peace returning,
a world more gentle,
more caring -
where kindness isn’t the exception,
but The Rule:
Love one another.
Poetry by Melinda K Zarate
Read 24 times
Written on 2025-11-14 at 18:17
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A Poem for World Kindness Day
Love one another,and just be kind.
If you can’t say anything nice - don’t.
Just stop.
We’ve moved far beyond
those simple clichés
into dangerous territory,
where one sharp comment,
one careless post,
can undo a life.
Literally.
Honesty should not mean cruelty.
Some opinions are better framed
to gently guide rather than destroy.
The result when words are slung
in the guise of “just being honest” -
a hollow victory.
Who really wins if both sides retreat,
one with ego boosted,
the other with self-doubt?
Sarcasm - the kind born of frustration and pain -
wounds on both sides:
a weapon to weaken,
a shield to protect.
Resentments grow stronger.
Walls grow higher.
Both - impediments to understanding.
So, on this day of kindness,
a day devoted
to service, to empathy,
to lifting up instead of tearing down,
maybe we can hold our tongues,
still our fingers, and remember:
the world could be a better place
through the exercise of just one thing -
self-control - which after all,
lies at the heart of kindness.
Maybe then,
in the quiet that follows restraint,
we’ll begin to feel the hope -
of peace returning,
a world more gentle,
more caring -
where kindness isn’t the exception,
but The Rule:
Love one another.
Poetry by Melinda K Zarate
Read 24 times
Written on 2025-11-14 at 18:17
Save as a bookmark (requires login) Write a comment (requires login) Send as email (requires login) Print text
