Pleasantries - a poem by Liam UiCearbhaill

As I scanned through my book for a poem appropriate to Thanksgiving, this one leaped out at me from the page. I wrote it at a small outdoor cafe in Sacramento on the corner of 10th and H in about 1995. I am thankful for the food on my table and even more thankful for generosity in my society. Though at times it is hard to see, it is there. Lately I find good people, whom I know to be kind and generous from my past dealing with them to be responding in fear to all the horrendous things happening in the world today. That saddens me.

Terrorism, in the word we use to describe it, means instilling terror in a society. If we allow ourselves to surrender to that fear then we have declared the terrorists to be the victors. It is only in finding and expressing the generosity in our souls that we truly combat the dangers facing us. So long as we stand for generosity and against fear, we win. I say, Onward to Victory!

This poem is in the collection Poetry's Purpose

Available for Kindle download at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YX2VZ78

Available in Printed version at http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/uicearbhaill

Available for purchase at The Book Juggler http://www.thebookjuggler.com/store.php

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Pleasantries

A pretty girl picking through
A trash can for some food
Haply finds a sandwich half
Enhancing her good mood

Woman with an extra half
At cafe table near
Offers it up to the girl
Without a trace of fear

Short exchange of pleasantries
No guilt, no hard luck tale
Just normal life, here in town

The words within me fail