No One Has Ever Done Good Without..... Poem by RIC BASTASA

no one has ever done good
without the
price

that man who stops his car
to save the kitten in the middle of the road
cannot sleep
if the unwary dies

that woman who sends you to school
is dying and finds in you the meaning of her life
at the last hour

that man who holds your hand to save you from falling
is looking for a cure for his emptiness

so far, no drug has cured
his unexplained longing

everyone is in the same boat
they do good not for the sake of doing it
there is always an exchange

it is not just your life, it is theirs too
the pain you suffer is ultimately theirs

and to ease your pain is actually to ease theirs too
to lighten your load lightens their burden too

for in this world each nerve is interconnected
the pain of the toe is the pain too of the head