Instincts

I've been making a list of the things they don't teach you at school. They don't teach you how to love somebody. They don't teach you how to be famous. They don't teach you how to be rich or how to be poor. They don't teach you how to walk away from someone you don't love any longer. They don't teach you how to know what's going on in someone else's mind. They don't teach you what to say to someone who's dying. They don't teach you anything worth knowing.

- Neil Gaiman (The Kindly Ones)

I wish I'd always have the right words to say.
I wish I'd always make a friend smile
I wish I'd always be able to soothe someone in pain
I wish I'd always be at the right place and at the right time to help

But in the absence of words, I use my arms,
stretch them as far as possible and crush the one grieving till they grieve no more

In the absence of a smile on someone's face,
I just cry along, in case he cannot cry anymore

In the absence of emotional painkillers,
I sit and hear each heartbeat, sharing the pain, wishing I could somehow take some of it

In my own absence, when I find a friend in need,
I send angels, hoping they do what I cannot.

Smile. Cry.
Then smile some more.