The Origin of Flowers

When I was a child

there was a day I fell and scraped my knee

I remember that it hurt

I also remember that I cried

Strangely enough

I have forgotten how much the wound actually hurt

What I do remember is

someone passing by

asking me

Are you okay?

I don't know their name

I can't even recall their face

Even though it was just a single word

it has remained in my heart for decades

The human heart is a mysterious thing

while wounds fade away

only kindness remains

The day I gave up my seat on the train

the day I returned a lost item

the day I listened to someone who was feeling down

I don't feel like I did anything special

That day

What I received from someone

I just passed it on a little further

Kindness does not end with its owner

It remains within the person who received it

It grows over time

And is eventually handed over to someone else

Just like a seed

I don't know where it was sown

I don't know who sowed it either

Yet it certainly sprouts

Bears fruit

And blooms into flowers

The kindness you showed someone today

Might be invisible by tomorrow

It has only become invisible

It has not disappeared

In the heart of someone somewhere

It sleeps as a small seed

Someday, I will become a flower in another place again

When someone is kind to me, a seed takes root in my heart

When someone is kind to me, the seed in my heart bears fruit

When I am kind to someone, the seed in their heart blooms

More than the memory of the day I fell

That voice lived longer