TheNewVerse.News : WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT BEING KIND

Sunday, February 02, 2025

WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT BEING KIND

by Robin Wright

AI-generated graphic by NightCafé for The New Verse News

For Mariann Edgar Budde

Rip off the band aid

of sarcasm, hurt, madness,

drop it in the trash,

bend down on your knees,

push that trash down deep.

Don’t use one hand,

drop both in and push,

push hard. Stand up

close your eyes, take a breath.

Now you’re ready

for those who haven’t

completed the steps, those

who will test you and flunk you.

Their grade book closed,

locked with their own

unkindness.

Robin Wright lives in Southern Indiana. Her work has appeared in One Art, As it Ought to Be, Subliminal Surgery, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Loch Raven Review, Panoply, Rat’s Ass Review, The Beatnik Cowboy, Spank the Carp, The New Verse News, and others. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee and a Best New Poets 2024 nominee. Her first chapbook, Ready or Not, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2020.

Emails to The New Verse News that do not follow the guidelines printed at the top of this page and in this column will be deleted. Poets are reminded, therefore, NOT to send attachments unless specifically requested to do so.

Although the editors and audience of The New Verse News have a politically progressive bias, we welcome well-written verses of various visions and viewpoints.

In any event, opinions expressed in The New Verse News are those of the poems' writers (or, perhaps, only of the poems' speakers) and not necessarily those of the editors, the audience, or other contributors to the site.

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Poems published in The New Verse News generally remain available in the site's archives eternally or until a writer requests that her/his/their work be deleted.

The Managing Editor of The New Verse News is James Penha. Interviews with him regarding the editorial policies of the journal are available at:
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Sunday, February 02, 2025

WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT BEING KIND