Kindness

 

Dates and faces are erased
But as long as I shall live 
Will come to me remembrances
Of warmth freely given.
A jacket given in the rain.
Or words playful and witty,
Or tea served on a rickety table,
Or a face lit with kindness and pity.

Like a holiday, happiness, or miracle.
Comes Kindness upon the earth still.  
And of her presence I shall not forget,
Though of Evil I surely will.
—Yulia Drunina

     1.) erase: to completely remove something (a thought, a feeling, a memory, or a mistake).
     2.) shall: will [future tense of “to be”].  I will live.
     3.) remembrances: memories; something you remember.
     4.) warmth: warm [kind, loving] feelings.
     5.) witty: something written or said that is funny and smart.
     6.) rickety: old and not in good shape or condition.
     7.) pity: to feel sad for someone because of his or her problems.
     8.) surely: definitely.