these fleeting temples we make together

The Path to Kindness (Adult Nonfiction POETRY 💓)

My favorite poem is Small Kindnesses by Danusha Laméris: 

"We have so little of each other, now. So far
from tribe and fire. Only these brief moments of exchange. 
What if they are the true dwelling of the holy, these 
fleeting temples we make together when we say, “Here, 
have my seat,” “Go ahead—you first,” “I like your hat.”

The most haunting poem is Mercy by Rudy Francisco, which is about saving a spider instead of killing it:

"If I am ever caught in the wrong place
at the wrong time, just being alive
and not bothering anyone,
I hope I am greeted
with the same kind

of mercy."

The reflective pauses weren’t really my cup of tea, but I did like the one created from Angela Narciso Torres’ poem, Chore. I have enjoyed thinking about my own transformative chores and would read an entire anthology about them if such a thing existed.