Hurt People Hurt People - poem

the man on the bus

the way he was so angry

yelling at the bus drive because

his stop had been missed to no fault

of the bus driver, where did that man

learn that anger?

was he raised in a home

with anger, was this how he was

hurt when he was young, and how

he learned how to be in the world

to interact with others, the way

others taught him

to be angry

i picture the man

a young boy, looking up to his father

confused and bewildered at the rage

that has come, the hurt that is being

bestowed upon him because his toys

are not where they should be, or

because he didn't use the drill

correctly, or because there is

a scratch on the car which may

or may not have been his doing

it is his undoing, a misdoing, that

is being done to him, this

harm

the unskillful are unskillful

because no one ever taught them

to be skillful, because someone taught

them to be unskillful

the angry people are angry

because no one ever taught them

to not be angry, to be kind, to be

compassionate and understanding

and forgiving and loving

those who hurt people, are hurt people

hurt people hurt people

i feel

only compassion

for the angry man

on the bus as i wait

for my stop