Orphan Poem by Je'free Y .

The orphan's million and one anxieties
All disappeared when I held his hand,
When I rose above myself, and
Let my ears be extra sympathetic than needed.

I began to love the uncomfortability
Of feeling with and suffering with him,
Until his problems were also mine.
That was the start of my ethical growth.

As strange as he was to me,
The judgment in my head was missing,
That primary tool of separation, absent.
This must be my purpose: To be useful over happy.

But then again, the practice of compassion effects
To an orphan's joy which becomes my joy as well.
It is like lighting a candle for someone in the dark,
But at the same time brightening my own path.

No more psychic numbing, nor unawareness
Of interdependence of all living beings.
Just when I thought I could not find it in my heart,
An orphan showed me how to share aliveness,
Building a more humane world.