poetry 2017 / 025

Turning Cheek

I was asked

why it was so easy for me

to be polite in adversity;

to smile and say 'thank you, sir,'

when the insult hurled

had left me pierced by a hurt

hot as a boiling kettle

when there is no water left for tea.

Live through worse, I said,

cry alone in the darkness

and challenge the boys with sticks

when being Other is despised;

smile at the haters of red-hair

when what they really mean

is I hate myself;

Celebrate diversity,

smile at people on the street

offer charity to those who need it.

Listen to those who differ in opinion

or who have experience you don't.

Wear clothes of both genders

or none at all

and realise that bigots are bigots

because they are afraid of you

and what you represent,

and possess neither experience

or imagination.