Cancer And Compassion... Poem by RIC BASTASA

compassion
makes
the young intelligent
man
to be too considerate
about the
inability of the old
clerical woman in
court who is sick
with cancer
to be too lax with
the way she makes
a sentence
with all the blunders
of syntax and grammar
he smiles and
tells her, 'thank you
you are of great
service to this
office'

the old woman knows
that he does not really
mean it
but she understands
the shortness of her life
and she
does not do anything
to correct his
decent lies.