If I flinch at kindness,

What else can I say?

That the cruelty of the world

Has scared my heart this way?

If I wonder what's behind a grin,

Is it only me recognizing

The whole truth across the gamut,

From "maybe something"

To "my paranoia has set in again?"

I've seen Love walk headlong into a trap

And stay there though she had the power to leave,

And mind her pretty manners and look good

Surrounded by a hornet's nest of bees.

And yet, not I! 

I'll mutter "Nevermind!"

And "What have I done now?" under my breath,

And pout and sulk,

And smother you half to death

With butterfly kisses,

And dream great frothy dreams

Of kindness in a cruel world.

-jenn