The Comfort Zone

I’ve never been the kind of gal

who freely gives her hugs away.

But when I can sense someone is

struggling, heart heavy with sorrow,

my instincts trump anxieties

and antisocial tendencies.

Without words of explanation,

hindered not by hesitation,

 

I step beyond my comfort zone,

hoping to bring back the broken,

letting love lead us to the light.

Human touch heals the hopelessness

of mourners lamenting the loss

of a loved one, lessening the

loneliness of those left behind.

In that brief but bless-ed moment,

 

compassion connects us, building

bridges across distances the

Devil designed to divide us.

By God’s grace, we stand united

through that most meaningful moment

when one soul reached for another,

sharing strength and hope and comfort,

showing a Love like no other.

 

(A stop sign is a format I created on a whim as I wrote this. I called it a stop sign because there are eight lines in each stanza, and eight syllables per line. As I added stanzas, I decided each stanza should represent a stop from a different direction. Therefore, since this poem has three stanzas, it has been crowned a three way stop sign.)