Poem

(This illustration is by Sidney Paget and appeared in an 1891 edition of Strand Magazine.)

AN ACT ALWAYS OUTWEIGHS AN INTENTION
By Brian McLaughlin

The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention. ~Oscar Wilde~

He asked for some food

from out of the gutter

I was already late

and began to stutter

Said I'll be back

but he'd heard that before

he just looked away

yeah, he knew the score

I meant to help

I really did

but then somehow

his life took a skid

Slipping away

he no longer had hope

to rise once again

he could no longer cope

Life itself

had become way too much

but my hesitation

stole his last crutch

For there in the gutter

he'd just given up

I was his last hope

and I'd not filled his cup

Oh what I'd give

to go back in time

and help that poor soul

up out of the grime

The morgue truck came

and took him away

“How the hell was I to know

this was his last day”