Discovering Charity Given Poem by David McLansky

As now I sit and vegetate,
Thinking back, I contemplate
Those kindnesses unacknowledged
Those years before and after college;
Those little helps along the path
When I was weary, filled with wrath,
Frustrated, wild, and filled with lust,
Bewailing life as so unjust;
Those little patient silent smiles
As if dealing with a child
Hid the kindness of their gifts
Which I had thought were due to thrift;
Which I repay now as adult
I stifle words when finding fault,
Quietly I turn and give
Remembering as I forgive.