Do You Care?

Someone just asked me,
"How you doing there?"
I think to myself
Maybe they really care ...

I said, "I'll tell you my friend
if you have a minute to spare."
But they said they didn't ...,
Guess they really didn't care.
It makes me wonder ...
What they would have said
If I had asked them
for a prayer instead...

People see the surface
not the hurting that
is deep inside ...,
And we say we are fine
when we had rather
just go and hide...

Fears go deep where hearts abide
making sadness and smiles collide.
By taking one step at a time
we will get through this
with reason and rhyme.

I've learned a lot along the way.
Now I stop and listen...,
at what people have to say.
Because I know sadness grows
when it cannot be expressed
and puts the soul
in deep distress.

Yes, then happiness grows
when sadness has been cleared away
and grows even quicker
when sadness has no place to stay.

So when someone says,
"Do you have a minute to lend?"
Wouldn't it be better to say,
"You bet, I'll listen to the end."?

[ Delores Wood (January 1991) -- from 'Guidewords' ]