CONDOLENCES

I come to you with smiles,
not to downgrade your pain,
but to uplift your spirit.
Perhaps my smiles
will slack the rain,
if only for a brief moment.

I can do no more.
I will not offer
somber-faced commiserations;
they have their place, I know,
but you've already had
enough of those.

My smiles are
my benevolences;
take them with love.

My fervent prayer
is that, in time,
you will answer me
with smiles.

Copyright © 1999 Ruth Gillis

Previously published in the
May/June 1999 issue of Poets At Work

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All poetry written by Ruth Gillis is copyrighted and may not be used in any way
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