I must be the only woman here
with an orange tucked in her handbag;
I adjust my posture and my Christian priorities
as the tramp squats in the narthex.
His manner of taking takes me aback –
no word of thanks, the hasty way
he stashes it in his grimy rucksack,
a thief suddenly in possession of treasure.
It wasn’t my choicest fruit, but the one
I wanted the least. And minutes ago,
I took the host, that exquisite Kindness, for granted –
preoccupied with my alms.
(First published in The Swanton Public Library's Kindness Poetry Compilation and Contest, 2021, Third Prize)
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