Poems by Dorothy Lowrie

A Morsel of Kindness
By Dorothy Lowrie

Perhaps he expects too much,
After all, why would he deserve,
Even a morsel of kindness?
Yet though she passes at first,
She walks back,
To where he sits, unseeing,
On the cold, dirty sidewalk.
Placing the coins into his open palm,
She presses his fingers closed over them.
Her fingers are soft and he can smell roses.
And he’ll never be quite sure,
She wasn’t really an angel.
(written 2019)

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Scraps of Humanity
By Dorothy Lowrie

In France they replaced
flour with sawdust in baguettes.
And in Holland, in the attic,
Anne grew tired of endless plates of potatoes.
In concentration camps even children
were lucky to eat a scrap of onion boiled in water.

In Japanese prison camps
many a man survived
on roasted rats.

And soldiers on the march through a Russian winter

were known to tear apart
a live chicken
so hungry were they.
And yet today, we won’t even feed

table scraps
to a dog.
(written 2022)

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Human Empathy
By Dorothy Lowrie

​He is someone’s son.
A young man in filthy clothing
Somewhere under the grime
Of street living
Beats the heart of his story
Of days lived before this life
Of garbage bag suitcases.
He is someone’s son.
In our brief encounter
Is it possible he might know
That I look deeper
Than his dirt-streaked face
And matted hair
To see his humanity
My charity not pity
But a benefaction for his dignity.
So I hand someone’s son
My offering.
I look directly into his
Dark blue eyes.
“God Bless You”
May he know that these words,
The catch in my voice,
And the tears in my eyes,
Come from
Genuine Human Empathy.
(written 2023)

*All poems copyright Dorothy Lowrie; none have been published prior.

Dorothy has loved and collected poetry all her life. She is blessed with an inheritance of the love of words in story, poetry and music. In the new chapter of her life that has given her back the gift of time, she enjoys reflecting on her life and the world through learning and practicing the art of poetry.