by DM Zwack

Created on: May 12, 2009   Last Updated: May 23, 2009

BE THE CRAZY ONE (SERMON FOR SAMARITANS)

Like a newspaper on a dead man's porch,

It lies unclaimed, uncollected,

For who wants it or, rather,

Who admits to it?

Not who admits to it,

For they are seen at church;

And not who practices it,

For they roam the sidewalks;

And not who declares it,

For they immodestly step forward.

But where are they,

Who require no medals,

Who need not request

Tax deductible receipts?

Who frees the dying cicada

From the playful housecat

For no reason except

To let it perish in peace?

Who, without fanfare, shoves a ten

In the can of a legless old man?

Chivalry never died at all;

It is not even wounded

Nor under threat, but these days

Its closest neighbor is cynicism,

Splashing every decent act

With a cold pitcher of self-interest,

A gust of ulterior motive,

A trumptet of self-congratulation.

So it kicks up no fuss and

Hides right out in the open.

Now you, this time don't be careful.

You're the crazy one whose kindness

Is mistaken for reckless,

Who never glances behind

To see if cameras are rolling.

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