! Reciprosity Poem by Michael Shepherd

What you do not wish for yourself,
do not do to others’ said Confucius;
‘That which is hateful to you,
do not do to your fellow’
said Rabbi Hillel;

is reciprosity, then, all the love
or charity, to use the fine old word,
we need to live the life
‘in love and charity with our neighbour’;
the life we’d love
the whole wide world to live?

Very nearly, most would say;
but even in our age – especially in our age –
a gentle voice should raise the thought,
the whole Creation is one single act of love…
that all around us
offers us a godly smile, a goodly message;
waits for us, so patiently,
to smile back.