THE DAILY VISITOR
Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.“
Mother Teresa, (1910-1997)
In an Asian hospital ward,
the visiting period was abuzzed
with concerned relatives and friends,
bringing fruits, and home-cooked favourites.
Unobstrusively, by the wall,
stood an old Christian clergy
in clergyman wear, with clerical collar,
both hands clasped in front.
Watching the people for a while,
He then placed himself on a chair
next to a patient with no visitor.
And, he just sat there, quietly.
As the patient tried to reach out to his cup,
he helped guide his trembling hands and cup
to the patient’s lips, and a hanky under his chin.
Then he offered the patient a peeled orange.
Another, was a terminal patient
who could not talk nor move.
Nobody visited him since admission.
This carer sat with him silently, serenely.
He was a daily visitor
for a few patients without visitors.
Be it a vagabond, or whose families
may be far in the rural and interior areas.
Kind words need not be ‘word’
for gestures can replace words.
Kind words/gestures need not be difficult
but it’s effects are long lasting and healing.
You must log in to post a comment.