guerdon

i think myself
grateful and kind
slow to anger
and I try not to mind
most of the
minor indignities,
the thoughtless acts
perpetrated upon
and, sometimes, by me
don't always succeed
(no one ever can)
but I attempt to empathize
with my fellow man
i turn the other cheek so oft
my face perpetually is red
but by my better angels
I hope always to be led
the price paid,
the burden
nothing to
the guerdon
of knowing
how much better to be
in our shared humanity
always growing