What is the cost of kindness, love, compassion,
Nothing and everything I propose.
No monetary value do they hold.
They cannot be bought or sold as livestock.
They are invisible, but for their gestures.
This by no means diminishes their value.
Priceless are they above the grandest diamond,
But do not be fooled,
They most surely take ravenously as does the thief.
Taking stress and casting it into the wind,
Taking hate and smothering it until breathless,
Taking selfishness and warming it with empathy.
Nothing but good can come of these
Yet we find them most difficult to freely offer.
How much improved would this world be,
For all that we sow we reap
Either in this life or the next.
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Dom DiFrancesco 
Always wonderful poetry, Dom. I confess I am not often generous with the virtues–and that my difficulty is due to relying on feelings, rather than the deliberate will to be kind and loving, compassionate. We do indeed reap what we sow (I used to reverse those words all the time–which may account for my poor crops!). Today, for instance, I’m struggling to be kind to myself–allow for a “bad day” that accomplishes little, and must be gotten through. Whine, whine….
Everyone is entitled to whine once in a while so have at it. As far as the virtues go, I am really trying to live them, but sometimes, even with the greatest of efforts, I fall flat on my face. I suppose that is life, I just won’t let it get me down. :)
Yes, we can only strive to do our best–and not park in the Condemnation Lot when we fall short.
I like that, “The Condemnation Lot”, great phrase and so true. :)
If you’d like, I’ll email you the button I had designed for it–it’s pretty cool!
I got it and thank you very much for sending it, when I first saw it I started laughing. Great work.
It’s a fun visual and will keep you from beating yourself up over much.
If only we all lived this way.
Very true, I really am trying to change and live this way, but being human seems to get in the way sometimes.