I Will Not Be Discouraged

                                           

                                       No, 

I will not be discouraged,
When people don’t respond
With smiles
To meet my own.
When my hand,
Held out in friendship
Finds no answering clasp.
I will not feel dismay so readily,
When I reach out
With arms flung open wide
Expectantly,
Then have them drop 

Embarrassedly,
Seeing a vacant stare.
Why are people so afraid
To touch,
To laugh,
To love with abandon,
To look you in the eye?
Why are they afraid?
I’ll never know,
But it is I 

Who will decide,
Not to be discouraged.

Myra D'Souza / 7FEB 2012