(x = space)
x
x
A Kindness
(Rosa Parks)
x
Because she was tired
And had enough
Of being tired
And the bus was not a charter
It was public transportation
She paid her money
Not a special fee
There was a seat
And she was tired
And had had enough
Of being tired
x
The kind of pain
Inside and out
And all she wants to do
It have it
Live it
Normally
The way
Anyone might bear
The pain
Of living
x
Though especially
The colored people
Colored brown
And paying for it
Without payment
In a place they did not sail to
Like Europeans
Who told the stories
Of their difficulties
Forgetting
(looking away)
About the holds beneath
In which the colored people
Had been pushed
And chained
And many of them
Died
On a journey of abduction
x
Can you imagine
Starting out this way?
This is their legacy
So let her have the vinyl seat
That she had rented
For a while
x
Let her have the whole bus
A fleet of buses
Let the people ride for free
And charge admission
For the lighter folk,
Which might began
To pay her back
And all her people
Who had the worse luck
Like the Indians
Already living here
x
Everyone with un-pale skin
Who met the Europeans
x
Not me
I wasn’t there
The rejoinder
Fair enough
But you’re here now
We’re here
We’re all here
Now
With small choices
And enormous ones
For how to live a country
Filled with all the colors
Hearts
And minds
And souls
x
You know,
Sometimes we stand
To let the lady sit
Or someone older
Someone bearing burdens
Or simply to be kind
Call it
Chivalry aside,
We can live this way
Kindly and civilly
Again
And for the first time
x
Might bring peace
(yes, there will be disgruntled)
On the bus
At the doorways
Going in
And going out
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C L Couch
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Photo by Peter Orsel on Unsplash
Intersection in the Middle of the Desert
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clcouch123 
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