Both the poem and the painting are based on an actual incident experienced while commuting to work. My heart went out to the unknown woman, weeping alone. In the painting, the trees have been shaped to represent the depressing voices that she hears within her head. My own daughters were having struggles at that time and I was worrying about them even as I considered the sorrow of this poor lady.
A Woman Weeping at the Bus Stop
By Al Vester
A woman sat weeping softly by the bus stop,
Fair hair hanging curtain-like around her face.
Slender fingers tried to comb the matted mop,
Failing, where tangled locks remained in place.
The passing hand showed sunken cheeks,
Evidence of bitter days and dreary weeks.
Sorrow separated from the world, she bent
Alone, unloved, unsheltered from the sky,
Her bowed back being her spirit’s only tent.
The bus arrived, but still she stayed to cry.
What path had brought her to this state?
When did accumulated errors grow so great?
Passer-by’s ponder while they wait
Brooding as they board their morning bus
Praying that their daughter’s fate
Would different be, and not end thus
Sitting at a bus stop as if traveling somewhere
Sadly saddled with sorrows going nowhere.
Compassion
In a world filled with many sorrows, there are good people everywhere who are moved with compassion to alleviate the suffering that those around them. One of the highest traits of the truly civilized and God fearing person is his compassion for his fellow human beings regardless whether that other person is old or young, male or female, or the color of their skin. Such a person regards all of mankind as one big family. These feelings of kinship encourage an empathy for others. He feels to suffer with the afflicted one, and, when the suffering can be relieved, he rejoices just as if his own suffering had been relieved.
Why should we have compassion on those around us? The answer is simple, in a heartbeat of time we may find ourselves needing the compassion of others. A single change of events in war can reduce us from the victor to the vanquished. A champion athlete can become an invalid by means of a single bad fall. The fortunes of the wealthy have been known to vanish overnight. Disease and cancer have unexpectedly removed many persons from their circle of family and friends. We may feel strong now, but we are fragile creatures who have no guarantee that we will see tomorrow’s dawn.
Back in 1624, John Donne wrote the following, “No man is an island, entire of itself, each is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” And, he ends this famous poem with these words, “For I am involved in mankind. Therefore, send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.”
We are all one great family extending back hundreds of generations to common ancestors. Although clothing and cultures vary, the common needs of food, friendship, and family are more easily met when we reach out with genuine caring to those who surround us. The woman that I observed was a stranger to me, but she was someone’s daughter and sister. Her image haunts me still, because I did not even try to offer some assistance. Chances are, because I a was a stranger to her, she would have turned me away. But then again, I may have had the privilege to lighten someone’s burden a bit and helped to improve our world by that small measure. The treaties between mighty nations do not really change societies much, but if each person would do just one more act of kindness and compassion a day, than is their normal habit, the weight of these acts would remove mountains of prejudice and hate. We would have a better world in which to live.
