For Walter Poem by Susy Evelyne

It takes courage to greet a stranger
And seem to fail.
To smile day in, day out,
Year in, year out -
All to no avail.
Yet smile you did, Walter;
Smile each morning
As you trod the commuter trail.
And wish him good day!
But wordlessly the man would pass
On his way.

So it went on: week in, week out,
Year in, year out,
Your 'Good morning' was spurned.
Countless smiles lavished
And not the merest
Of acknowledgements ever earned.
Until one day - one glorious day -
The ice thawed and cracked;
The smile was returned!

Some things in life are hard to explain.
Such as why in the desert comes the rain,
And why thereafter each day
A greeting from that stranger came.