Of Those Who Do Not Love Humanity, Poetess - Lidia Popa, Romania

Of Those Who Do Not Love Humanity
Lidia Popa, Romania

Of those who do not love humanity
I do not fear those who turn their back on poetry,
those who do not feel the rhythm,
those who do not recognize the fire of words.

I fear those who do not see the face of another,
those who pass by a human being
as if they were a dull object,
a stone without history.

I fear those who do not know how to bend,
those who do not know how to say "you,"
those who do not know how to stay when the world trembles.

Because humanity is not an idea,
it is a gesture.
It is a hand that does not withdraw.
It is a heart that does not close.

And those who do not love human beings
are not a danger to me—
they are a danger to the world.

I, on the other hand,
continue to believe
that every face is a beginning
and every encounter
a possibility of salvation.

©️ Lidia Popa