You do not know much
About who you sit beside
Unless you inquire,
What makes them face every day
What they hide within their heart.

So careful, easy,
With those words, you loose to say,
Hurt is hard to undo,
Violence it may to souls convey,
Guilt, pain never goes away.

If you must judging
Speak, avoid the “I would never,”
And, “I don’t see how,”
Sometimes life serves up lessons
No one would ever freely choose.

We each walk strangers
In this shadowed valley with
Our complement of sorrow,
Definitives we better leave alone
Black and white turn to ash gray.

Judgment is a cruel game
That often turns its teeth to bite
Those who hold its leash,
It is not kind, nor has justice
As its governor, it merely hates.

Caution you, caution me,
It is much better to be generous
To exhibit kindness
Than let rancor have its destructive way,
Because vengeance lays to waste every day.

All we are should answer
To the name of love, understanding,
Every question belongs
Between the individual and God
Or whoever to which we may turn.

© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan