Can I look hate in the face

and call it friend?

Can I look anger in the face

and call it healer?

I run from hate and anger,

even as they creep into my life like unexploded bombs.

Even then, a part of me senses that if I embrace them,

they will dissipate, 

their power will dissolve into nothingness.

With this, I set myself free,

gratefully. 

Are hate and anger the lost sisters of love and compassion?

Oh what beauty in the mirror appears

when I stop running and just look, squarely, 

into the face of life.