how far respect can take

happy are those who walk
with respect, who know their
place in the world &
they do so, being propped up &
nourished by support groups,
from the family to the work place,
from a circle of friends to
the decency found in the eyes of
a random compassionate stranger---
funny how for many
it is nearly impossible to
read between the lines
when another speaks to them,
when real horrors in the home or
issues that still stir from the past,
which have beaten us all into a
bloody pulp on the inside,
regardless of how perty/handsome
we might seem on the outside,
bubble up in the words
like a simple code that doesn’t need
to be broken, because it only
happens when another trusts you
enough to crack the door open
just far enough to squeak.

how far respect for another who has
been through the proverbial hell &
still walks can take one, is anybody’s
guess, but the courage to risk nothing
in order to gain everything through
a few minutes of really listening to
another, with no want of anything at
all for the self, can do wonders for
this world,
because respect for another human
being, outside anything but the
act itself, can only strengthen what
seems to be at a quick glance, our
ever weakening backbone of a
species & certainly, most of us can
agree, this is a
good thing.